The Sun's in the Sky, Makes for Happy Endings
by Ellie603
Summary: Simmons has been missing for four months, and it's taken a huge toll on the entire team. Even though they're still searching, everyone but Fitz is beginning to accept that they might just have to figure out how to move on without Jemma. But all it takes is one more mission to change everything and finally bring happiness back to base, for Fitz more than anyone.
1. A Glimpse of Sunlight

_A/N: This ended up being way longer than the one-shot I had intended it to be, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. This first chapter is a lot of exposition and flashback stuff, but, after that, things get happy and sweet and fun, which is really the point of this fic. The rest of this will definitely be up within the next week or two since it just needs to be edited._

 _I don't own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., obviously, and the title come from "She's Got You High" but Mumm-ra (which is a super adorable song that I definitely recommend listening to)._

 _Thanks for reading!_

* * *

Agent May sighed as the small jet approached its destination. With a mission like this, the May of years past would have been steely faced and the picture of composure, but, in recent months, May had slowly begun expressing her feelings more as she and Andrew worked on their relationship. The month away from S.H.I.E.L.D. and life-and-death situations had been good for her, but, even with this recent development, it was the nature of the mission, more than anything, that was the reason for May's sigh.

It had been nearly four months since the team had seen any sign of Agent Simmons, and everyone on the base had been giving up hope little by little. By the time May had come back to the Playground, the search for Simmons, and, more specifically, for information on the stone, the Kree, and alien artifacts in general, had been in full swing. Skye was in charge of finding Inhumans to recruit them or at least let them know that S.H.I.E.L.D. was an available resource should they need assistance, but the younger woman also used the opportunity to fish for any possible information on the stone that could be useful to Fitz back at the lab. May had occasionally gone out to gather information on the stone for Fitz, but most of her time was spent helping Skye with Inhuman recruitment and training.

Fitz, for his part, had been holding up when May returned. She knew things hadn't been good during the first few weeks after Simmons's disappearance, but the Fitz that had nodded at her in greeting when she and Coulson walked into the room that had become his new workspace had been unsmiling but not unhinged. Mack, who had been working with him at that particular moment, had welcomed May back more enthusiastically, despite the fact that Fitz definitely knew her better. May had offered the larger man a half smile and a sympathetic glance at Fitz to which Mack had just shrugged, turning back to the stone that dominated the room as if to say that they were still working on it.

Some part of May was glad that she had been away when the tragedy occurred. She and Andrew had been flipping through the channels lazily on his sofa as May reveled in her first real day off in years. The pair had been doing a lot of talking, which May was gradually getting used to, since her default for so long had been silence, but it was these little, comfortable moments between her and Andrew that she had really missed. There had been some moments like this back on the Bus with Coulson and the rest of the team, but with them there was always some threat in the background – Centipede, Hydra, Ward. With Andrew, there was nothing to worry about.

Until the phone rang.

 _When she first heard her cell go off on the coffee table between her and Andrew's feet, she was tempted to ignore it, but Andrew picked up the device first._

" _It's Coulson," he said, his brow furrowed. "You've only been gone a day. What could he need?"_

 _The relaxed smile that had been on May's face all day slipped away at Andrew's words. She took the phone from him wordlessly, a sinking feeling in her stomach. She knew Coulson would only call if something bad had happened._

" _Coulson?" she answered the phone, her tone even, though she couldn't help the worry that seeped into her words._

" _I'm sorry to call you like this, May," Coulson replied. She could hear voices and echoes all around him, and she braced herself for the inevitable tragedy, knowing that a flurry of activity accompanied by a phone call like this could only mean bad news._

" _What is it?" Her words were slightly less even._

" _It's Simmons," he said._

 _May inhaled sharply._

 _He continued. "That Kree rock she was studying. Something happened and the door got open somehow and, you know how it turns liquid sometimes? Well, it did that, and it swallowed Simmons, and we really don't know how to get her back. Skye says she can't even feel her inside the rock now. It's like she's gone."_

 _That had not been what May was expecting. "Oh my God."_

 _Coulson sighed. "I know. We only just found out. Fitz couldn't find her anywhere, and then Skye checked, and we saw it on the security tape."_

 _May sat back on the sofa as Coulson mentioned Simmons's best friend. "How's Fitz?"_

 _Coulson didn't speak for a moment. "Determined," he said finally. "Heartbroken, but determined. He just ordered around half the base without a second thought." May could hear a note of pride in the director's voice._

" _Do you need me to come back?" May asked, glancing at Andrew who was watching her worriedly from the other end of the sofa. She didn't want to leave him, but she hated the idea of her team having to deal with this without her._

" _No," Coulson said firmly. "You need a break. We have practically the whole base working on this right now, and Skye and Mack are in with Fitz. We'll be okay. You take care of yourself, and I'll keep you posted on the situation here. Hopefully I'll be able to call with some good news soon."_

 _May felt like arguing, but she knew Coulson was right. There really wasn't that much good she could do by being back, and with any luck Simmons would be found sooner rather than later. Fitz was one of the smartest people May had ever met, even without his other half. If anyone could figure out how to bring back Simmons, it would be him._

" _Okay," May said simply. "Call me as soon as you find out anything."_

 _Coulson confirmed that he would and then May hung up the phone._

 _Andrew stared at her, worry in his eyes. "What's going on, Melinda?"_

For once, May had been glad to have someone to talk to.

After May had returned to base, two more months had gone by without any real leads, and Coulson had begun trying to encourage Fitz to work on other S.H.I.E.L.D. projects, to take a break from the stone and try to clear his head. Fitz had resisted Coulson's attempts for the most part, but occasionally Mack or Skye had been able to lure him out of the room with the stone to get his help with some task meant to divert his attention from what was beginning to look like a fruitless search. The longest one of these diversions had lasted was the entire day that Fitz had spent modifying the prosthetic hand for Coulson that Mack had created. But when he'd finished his work, it was right back to Simmons and the monolith. The same old information over and over again.

But then it had happened: a lead. In a rare mission away from the base, Fitz had been able to track down a scientist who specialized in alien artifacts, and the man had given the team their first new information in months: specific geological conditions that were often the result of exposure to extraterrestrial life, Kree extraterrestrial life in particular. Fitz, with Skye's help, had begun scanning, and they had soon compiled a list of sites that matched the conditions the scientist had described. At least one site was examined per day, with one agent heading the mission, a couple more, often from Skye's Inhuman team, providing backup, and one med-officer waiting on the ship in case Simmons was found and needed attention. Fitz worked his way onto every mission he could, but on occasions where more than one trip took place in a day or when Coulson ordered him to stay behind and get some rest, Fitz was grounded and spent the day pacing or tinkering with Mack in the garage just for something to do.

Everyone had been hopeful in the beginning, but, a month in, they'd had no luck. The list was long and grew longer every day. Occasionally there seemed to be evidence of alien activity at a site, but even with this confirmation that their scientist lead had at least some idea of what he was talking about, the apparently telling geological conditions seemed to be naturally occurring more often than not. Each mission that returned to base empty-handed made the faces of the team sink lower and lower, and May wondered whether Coulson would shut the operation down. Fitz, however, maintained the appearance, at least, of hope. He would cross off location after location, remarking to anyone nearby that they were one step closer to finding her. Those around him would nod, trying to share his optimism.

And so May found herself in charge of this mission. She had been on several of these already, and each one just made her realize more and more the futility of their search. This was almost their fortieth location, and, though May would never admit it to anyone except Andrew, she had very little hope left that Simmons could be found, much less found alive. It was just too unlikely.

May turned around to check on her passengers. She had been lucky enough to nab Skye on one of her free days back at the base, and the younger girl had understood that May wanted someone with her that she knew well, just to help the inevitable disappointment go down easier. Seated beside Skye was Lincoln, Skye's number two in her Inhuman operations. May respected the kid and was glad that he was usually there to watch Skye's back.

Seated further away from the Inhumans was a med officer named Henry that May knew had been around the base a decent length of time. He had said before takeoff that he had known Simmons fairly well. Unspoken were the words that could be found behind the eyes of anyone who had known Simmons at the base: we miss her.

Fitz, naturally, had wanted to join them on the mission, but Coulson had ordered him to stay behind, since he had been on five missions in the past five days.

"You have to take a break, Fitz," Coulson had said, trying to reason with him. "May and Skye can handle this, you know that."

Fitz had finally nodded and returned, dejectedly, to the room with the stone, adding locations to list and trying to look for similarities that could differentiate the naturally occurring conditions from those of alien origin, which would allow him to cross more locations off the list.

May sighed again as she picked up her comm to talk to Coulson. "We're making our descent, over."

A second later came the reply. "Copy. Good luck, May." Coulson's voice echoed the lack of hope that May felt.

She replaced the comm and prepared the plane for landing.

* * *

Coulson stood up from his desk after May hung up her comm. He had been trying to stay positive for Fitz and for the rest of the team, but four months of nothing was getting a little hard to take. While everyone on the base wanted to find Simmons, comments had drifted up to him from agents and others who didn't know her wondering why Coulson was putting so much effort into an increasingly futile search for one scientist. Sometimes Coulson didn't know himself. If this lack of progress continued, he was going to be forced to shut down the missions. Coulson didn't even want to think what that would do to Fitz. In giving up the search for one half of Fitzsimmons, Coulson thought it was likely that he would lose the other half too.

Coulson sighed and headed down to find Fitz and tell him that the team was about to reach the destination. It was part of their agreement that anytime Fitz was required to stay back from a mission he would be privy to every update Coulson received from whichever agent was currently leading the mission.

Fitz was holding up well, but Coulson could see the cracks in the façade. It was nothing like it had been at the beginning, but the months without Simmons were starting to wear Fitz down as they had the rest of the team.

Things had really been bad for the first few weeks, with Fitz not sleeping or eating unless he had been forced to, and even then he sometimes had sneaked out of his room in the middle of the night leaving Mack or Skye to find him in the morning curled up asleep on the floor beside the stone, his laptop open and taking readings. After a month without Jemma, Fitz had started remembering to eat and most nights he actually made his way to his bunk, though finding Fitz asleep at his desk in the room with the stone because he had stayed up too late working was still a fairly common occurrence. He had been constantly going through any resources they had, sending, with Coulson's authority, any available agents out to meet with scientists and specialists to find any scrap of information regarding the stone, all while he stayed in the same room where Simmons had disappeared.

For those first few weeks, Coulson had tried to keep someone with Fitz at all times to prevent him from doing anything drastic, like jumping into the case containing the stone himself. But Coulson also wanted to make sure that Fitz didn't drift away and start talking to himself like he had when Simmons had gone undercover at Hydra months before.

Luckily, Coulson's worries had never born fruit. Fitz was focused, driven, even obsessed, but he was stable. Every so often Coulson could see the same look of utter hopelessness that had been on Fitz's face when he discovered what had happened four months before. Coulson was certain that he had never seen someone look so broken as Fitz had when he first saw the security footage of the stone swallowing Simmons up like a wave reclaiming the sand. Coulson knew that Fitz and Simmons's relationship hadn't been the same since they were rescued from the middle of the ocean, but, whatever had happened between them, Coulson was certain that none of it mattered to Fitz anymore. All the young engineer cared about was finding Jemma and bringing her home.

As okay as things had been, Bobbi and Hunter's decision to take a step back from S.H.I.E.L.D. while Bobbi was healing, while understandable, had still hit Coulson hard, especially when it was grouped with Simmons's disappearance and figuring out his new prosthetic hand. The loss of the couple brought their previously close-knit group at the Playground down to just him, Fitz, Mack, and Skye, so Coulson had been thrilled when May called him after a month and told him that she was returning the following day.

Coulson and Skye had gone to meet May as she walked back in to base and, immediately, Skye had pulled her in for a hug. With as hard as the situation was for Fitz, Skye had been forced to put on a brave face and work on her and Coulson's Inhuman initiative, despite that fact that the missing scientist was one of Skye's closest friends. Coulson still saw right through her, and he tried to help her every chance he could. He had found Skye crying in her room the day after Simmons went missing, and then later in odd corners of the ship whenever things were too much. His heart broke every time. But May's return was definitely a good thing. Coulson knew that having her S.O. back would really help Skye, who had long ago become the closest thing to a daughter Coulson had ever had.

When he stepped up to welcome May back to base, she had nodded at him, her eyes silently asking if there was any news about Jemma. Coulson had shaken his head and then asked if she wanted to go see Fitz where he always was in his make-shift work station in the room with the monolith.

All these months later, Coulson still expected Fitz to be in that horrible room, but, to his surprise, he found the engineer in the lab arguing with one of the other scientists, apparently over new developments that were being made to he and Simmons's ICERs.

"I don't care if this new design's 'more powerful,'" Fitz said, angrily, using air quotes to emphasize his point, "it throws off the balance. Just stick to what we had before unless you actually have a _good_ idea."

"As if _that_ were a possibility," Fitz muttered to himself as the other scientist moved away, clearly ashamed.

Coulson hid his satisfaction at seeing Fitz acting like his old self, just for a moment, and approached the younger man. "Fitz."

The engineer looked up and stepped toward him eagerly, though his eyes seemed wary.

"The team's about to reach the site. We should have a report in the next ten or fifteen minutes."

Fitz nodded, letting out a breath. "Good."

Coulson nodded back, dismissing him, and then left the room. As he rounded the corner, he turned back to see that Fitz had started pacing the length of the lab, one hand on the back of his neck and the other fidgeting anxiously. Coulson just wished that he would be able to, for once, give Fitz some good news.

* * *

Skye turned to Lincoln as the plane touched down. "You ready?"

Lincoln nodded back, seriously.

Both Inhumans had been on a decent number of these missions already, and they knew how to handle them. Particularly, they knew how to deal with the inevitable disappointment that would come when they, most likely, were unable to locate their missing scientist.

Jemma had been one of Skye's closest friends ever since she joined S.H.I.E.L.D. back what felt like a lifetime ago. Fitz and Simmons had always been there for Skye through everything that life had thrown at her. When Quinn had shot her, it was Simmons who had taken care of her, doing everything in her power to save her and then to make sure she got better, and Fitz had been the one person who had kept her secret about what had really happened to her in that alien city. Skye had known for a long time that she would do anything to protect her friends, and this certainly fell in that category, but that didn't mean that their lack of progress wasn't disheartening. Really everything during the past four months had been pretty hard to take.

Skye had been the one who pulled up the surveillance footage that horrible afternoon when Fitz came by Coulson's office during a meeting frantically asking if anyone had seen Jemma.

 _Skye wanted to cry as they watched the stone liquefy and swallow up Jemma over and over, but one look at Fitz's face told her that she needed to be strong, at least for that moment. Fitz instantly moved into action, sprinting down to the room that Simmons had disappeared from, while Skye and Coulson trailed in his wake, Coulson calling out for Mack and Hunter to follow them._

 _They found Fitz screaming Jemma's name at the alien rock. The door to the case was still wide open, but the rock remained solid. Before anyone could stop her, Skye approached the rock and held out her hands, trying to move it or at least sense Jemma's presence inside it. But there was nothing. She couldn't move it, and, worse, it was solid the whole way through._

" _I can't feel her inside it," Skye said, half to herself. "She's not in there."_

" _Move away from there, Skye," Coulson said, coming up beside her, his face set. "We can't lose you too." He closed the case firmly as Hunter and Mack appeared in the doorway._

 _The dull thud of the glass shutting caused Fitz to collapse onto the ground, his head in his hands as he repeated Jemma's name over and over. Coulson had stepped back to explain the situation to Mack and Hunter, while Skye knelt down beside Fitz, wrapping her arms around him._

 _Sobs wracked his body, and Skye knew that she would have to keep it together for a little while longer. "We'll get her back, Fitz," Skye spoke softly to him. "We'll find her."_

 _Fitz stayed curled up on the floor as his sobs subsided and his breathing grew more regular. Skye didn't let go, for her benefit as much as Fitz's. She knew that as soon as she was left alone with her thoughts, everything was going to fall apart._

 _Finally Fitz sat up, and Skye moved back from him. Fitz's eyes were bloodshot and there were tear tracks all over his face that he quickly rubbed away._

" _I'm gonna find her, Skye," he said, his voice not hopeful but rather committed. There wasn't the slightest bit of doubt in his words; this was definite. Fitz would find Jemma and bring her home._

 _Skye nodded her belief in him, not confident in her ability to speak._

 _Fitz stood and turned to address the room, which now included more scientists and agents, minus Hunter who Skye assumed had returned to Bobbi._

" _Get me everything you all have on this rock, on the Kree, on alien artifacts in general," Fitz ordered, his eyes flashing, warning everyone in the room not to interrupt him. "We're going to find out what this God-forsaken rock is, what it does, and, most importantly, we're going to figure out how to get Simmons back."_

 _Everyone stared at him. Skye saw a few eyes dart to Coulson as though to ask if Fitz had the authority to do this. Coulson said nothing._

" _Move!" Fitz yelled, and the entire room burst into life, as everyone hurried to the archives and the lab to find anything that could help Fitz._

 _Skye and Mack moved in toward Fitz warily, as Coulson stepped out of the room with the others._

" _What can we do, Turbo?" Mack asked, his voice calm, only his eyes betraying how worried he was._

" _Help me sort through this," he gestured to the data that Simmons had been collecting when the rock took her. "There must be something helpful in here. Jemma-" Fitz's voice broke as he said his best friend's name. He took a deep breath. "Jemma had already gotten some good readings."_

 _And that was how the rest of that first day passed. Every so often an agent or scientist entered Fitz's new makeshift workstation with some scrap of information that Fitz took note of, trying to piece together the puzzle that was the Kree stone. Coulson returned after a few minutes to help, telling Skye in a low voice that he had called May to tell her what had happened, but that he had insisted that she still take her leave of absence. Skye nodded, still saying nothing._

 _Hours passed, and the base grew quiet. As it neared 2AM, Mack turned to Coulson and Skye. "Get some sleep, I'll stay up with him." He nodded at Fitz whose eyes were glued to Jemma's computer screen._

 _Coulson thanked him and said he would try to get someone else to come in soon so Mack could sleep too._

 _Before Skye left to head to her bunk, she walked over to Fitz and threw her arms around him._

 _Fitz seemed startled by her presence, but he quickly returned the hug, sniffling slightly._

" _I'll be back first thing in the morning," Skye said softly. "We'll get her back Fitz, I know we will."_

 _Fitz only nodded and turned back to the screen._

 _Outside the room, Skye looked over at Coulson. So guarded with his emotions since Simmons's disappearance had been discovered, Coulson suddenly seemed to deflate now that he was out of Fitz's sight._

" _We're gonna find her, Coulson," Skye said, knowing even as she spoke that she sounded far less confident than Fitz had only a few hours earlier._

" _I hope so," Coulson replied, and Skye couldn't resist pulling him into a hug. He wrapped his arms protectively around her and sighed. "There's nothing we can do now. Go get some sleep."_

 _Skye nodded and headed to her bunk._

 _As soon as she closed the door, every emotion that Skye had been holding inside all night burst out of her. She collapsed onto her bed, shaking and crying and pounding her fists into her pillow. How could Simmons deserve something like this? She was one of the best people Skye knew, one of only a very small number she considered family. She could be gone. That rock was supposed to be dangerous to Inhumans. If it could hurt someone with powers, Skye shuddered to think of what it could do to Jemma._

 _Skye cried into her pillow until she felt like she couldn't cry anymore. Not even having the energy to change out of her clothes, she turned off the lights and crawled into bed._

 _That night was the first of many fitful nights Skye tried to sleep through on the base, and that new day brought its own challenges. She spent hours trying in vain to get Fitz to eat something, to take a nap, to leave that awful stone for one second. She had to fight back tears when she passed the lab, knowing that Jemma should have been there. When she went to grab her jacket from her locker, she had to pass by the locker that belonged to Simmons, and it took her more than a few moments to collect herself before she returned to the room with the stone._

 _When she finally slipped out and went to her bunk, just to have a few moments alone, she spotted a picture stuck to her wall: one of her, Fitz, and Simmons from back on the Bus before they had even started dealing with Hydra, let alone the alien rock. Just seeing Jemma's smiling face in the photograph was too much for Skye. She pulled the picture off the wall and slid down in front of it, her arms curled around her knees as she cried into them. After a couple minutes, there was a knock on her door, and it slid open hesitantly._

" _Skye?" It was Coulson._

 _Skye let out a sob in response, so Coulson stepped in further, moving to sit down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders._

" _It's okay," he said softly, feeling more like a father to Skye at that moment than anyone ever had. Skye knew that if her real father had been here, he would have done the same, but Cal didn't even remember that he was her father anymore, and Skye really just wanted Coulson. She wanted her entire Bus family (minus Ward, obviously) back together: safe, happy, and not encased in alien stone._

 _Coulson sniffed, and Skye realized he was crying too._

" _I'm so proud of you," he said finally, and Skye looked up in surprise, unsure what he could possibly be proud of her for. "You've been holding it together so well for Fitz and for the rest of the team. All this uncertainty is so hard to deal with, but you've just been there helping out and being a shoulder for Fitz to lean on. I think you're probably the person Fitz is most comfortable with opening up to right now, and you've been so great with him already. Thank you."_

 _Skye turned slightly so she could give Coulson an actual hug. "I just need us to get her back, Coulson," she said, between choking breaths._

" _We'll do whatever we can," was all he said in response._

The days had turned to weeks and Skye had developed a routine. She would get up early after what was almost always a fitful night full of tossing and turning and bad dreams, and then she would go find Fitz who was invariably already looking through documents or taking readings in the room with the stone. Sometimes she would find him curled up on the floor in front of the stone wrapped in a blanket that Skye was fairly certain belonged to Simmons, having apparently slipped away from whatever agent Coulson had asked to stay with him that night to make sure he got some sleep. Skye would gently shake him awake, and he would always stare up at her, confused, before understanding what had happened and where he was. Some days Skye would stay with Fitz, neither of them doing much talking, just being there for each other, but increasingly Coulson had sent her and a team to go meet with other Inhumans to try to recruit them for S.H.I.E.L.D. or at least get to know them. But, without fail, she always asked for information on the Kree monolith, praying that one day one of these Inhumans would just so happen to be an expert in Kree artifacts.

Lincoln had started joining her on these missions fairly quickly. He was still a bit wary of S.H.I.E.L.D., but he trusted Skye and the pair made a good team. Plus, May seemed to like him, which was a definite plus in Skye's book.

Skye had sensed the sadness in May's voice when she had asked her to come on this mission the day before. It was clear that May wanted someone with her who had known Simmons for as long as she had, someone who she could sit with in silence and solidarity on their return trip that Skye feared would be empty-handed, like every mission the team had gone on so far. Since Lincoln was free too, Skye had grabbed her friend and asked him to come with her. At the very least, the pair could use the flight to work on their plans for their next Inhuman mission.

May lowered the ramp, and the agents headed out, leaving Henry behind to wait with the plane. Lincoln carried the bag that contained Fitz's specially designed scanning equipment, while May walked all around the area to make sure they were alone.

They had landed on the edge of a plateau that was surrounded by cliffs and mountains in all directions. Skye remembered the report saying that the specific conditions Fitz's scientist had described could be found on the plateau's rockiest edge. One section fifty feet or so back from where they were seemed promising, a large pile of rocks resting precariously against the cliff.

Leaving May looking down the other side of the plateau and Lincoln scanning the ground closer to the plane, Skye ran over to the rocks and knelt down by the edge, setting her palms face-down against the earth and closing her eyes. With her mind clear of anything but the plateau and rocks around her, Skye was able to listen to the earth and feel the space beneath her. She could move the rock pile if she wanted to, or crumble the edge of the plateau, but Skye was focused on something else. Instead of the deep, solid rock she had expected beneath her, there was a space, some sort of cave, but it didn't feel quite like any cave she had ever encountered.

"Lincoln!" Skye called, looking up, but still keeping her hands pressed against the rock of the plateau.

Her friend turned around.

"Come over here for a second," Skye said, trying not to sound hopeful. Just because there was an unnatural cave didn't guarantee anything about Simmons. "It's not completely solid under here."

Lincoln hurried over with the equipment. "You mean there's a cave or something?"

"Or something," Skye replied. "It doesn't feel like a cave exactly though. It's small, and I can't get a sense of there being any water down there to have formed it. It's almost like a room rather than a real cave."

Lincoln furrowed his brow and started scanning, walking up and down the area. Instantly his eyes lit up. "There _is_ something down there. Rectangular, almost. And it's giving off some weird kind of energy." He moved closer to the edge of the plateau. "It looks like there should be some sort of entrance down there." He pointed to where the rock pile was.

Skye immediately jumped down to the rocks and was glad when they held her weight. Above her, Lincoln called for May to come over to see the readings.

Skye climbed down several large boulders, secure in the knowledge that she could hold the rocks in place if they started slipping.

"It looks like you're about there, Skye!" Lincoln's voice called down to her.

"Okay!" Skye called back and turned to start looking for this entrance.

The side of the cliff was solid rock, no cave, not even a small opening, but Skye paid that fact no mind, as she moved over on the boulder she was currently standing on. One part of the rock face had strange markings on it, ones that Skye had never seen before. "Alien," she breathed, running her hand over the rock. She could feel that the rock here was very thin, with what had to be the cave area behind it.

"I think there's alien writing down here!" Skye called up to Lincoln and May. "This must be the entrance, but there's still a wall here."

"Wait a second Skye," Lincoln's voice came and thirty seconds later, he had scrambled down to look at the writing for himself. He quickly took some samples and pictures and scanned the rock, confirming that the cave area was just behind it, but also that the rock was incredibly old and that the markings were just as ancient. Skye knew of no previously studied ancient peoples that lived in this particular area.

"It's got to be alien," Lincoln said, as though reading Skye's thoughts.

"I can bring down this wall," Skye said, looking at her friend for confirmation.

Lincoln looked at the cliff skeptically. "I know you _can_ , but what if that causes any structural damage to the cave? There's definitely something weird going on there energy-wise. It's almost like electricity." He shook out his hands, flexing his fingers as though he could feel the power flowing through them. "Can you break it down and then stay out here and make sure nothing collapses?"

Skye nodded. "Piece of cake. And then you and May can come down and check it out."

"Maybe just May," Lincoln said, checking his readings. "It looks like it might be tight, and I would trust her in their more than me."

Skye smiled slightly at the modesty of her friend. "Okay, suit yourself." She turned to face the wall. "Now get back up there before I accidentally hit you with something."

As soon as she saw Lincoln was safe back on top of the plateau, Skye took a deep breath and held out her hands, bringing the wall crumbling down in front of her. She felt a wave of some sort of energy wash over her, but then it was gone. The remaining sides of the cave's entrance shifted slightly, so she immediately took a stance, keeping the walls from caving in. "Okay, there was definitely some kind of energy thing, but it's gone now. May, I've got it. Come down!"

Much quicker than Lincoln, May was beside her almost instantly, Fitz's scanner in hand. "Coulson," the older woman said into her comm. "I'm heading in."

* * *

Fitz paced back and forth in the lab that he had barely worked in during the past four months. He could sense how uncomfortable the rest of the workers were as they kept glancing up at him from their benches, but Fitz couldn't care less.

Almost every mission so far had been touchdown and then fifteen-or-so minutes later a message saying that nothing had been found. Every so often the gap between messages was smaller and instead of saying nothing had been found, whoever was in charge, most likely Fitz himself, would inform Coulson that there was something different, something alien. So far none of those alien locations had resulted in finding Jemma, but that didn't mean that every time another alien location was found that Fitz's heart didn't race and that he didn't let himself get his hopes up. Today's mission was no exception.

When May had radioed in fairly quickly that Skye had found some sort of underground room with alien markings on the outside wall, Coulson had come down and informed Fitz and then remained with him in the lab, standing off to the side, not pacing, but staring at the ground, apparently deep in thought. Fitz did the whole staring off into space thinking about Jemma thing a lot these days, but at times like this, he had to stay busy, his hands fidgeting as he walked in circles around the room.

It was rare that Fitz wasn't on the mission for one of the alien spots, and he felt the smallest twinge of annoyance at Coulson for forbidding him from going on this one, though that was mostly made up for by the fact that Coulson was still allowing him to send teams on the missions in the first place. And Fitz knew that Coulson had good reason to keep him here– Fitz had been off base for five straight days and since Fitz could never bring himself to eat on a mission, his diet alone was concern enough, let alone his sleep schedule.

Since Jemma had disappeared all those months ago, Fitz had been living in a constant state of near-exhaustion. He had barely been able to sleep those first few days, nightmares of Jemma being ripped from him haunting him every time he closed his eyes.

When Jemma had been gone for three days, Fitz had snuck into her room to try to see if his best friend had left any notes or research lying around there. There was no information anywhere in her room, but what Fitz did find was more important to him. He had never been to Jemma's room at the Playground, and he was surprised to see that pictures of the two of them and the rest of the team (but mostly of the two of them) still lined the walls as they had in her room back on the Bus. Beside her bed was a single framed picture, the one of her and Fitz after their graduation from the Academy. Simmons had invited he and his mum down to her house during the couple weeks they both had at home before they headed off to SciOps. His mum had insisted on taking the picture and framing copies for both of them so they would always remember "where it all started." Fitz had his copy in his room too. They both looked so young, so innocent, so ready to take on the world. Tears had dripped down his cheeks as he stared at the photograph. "I'm gonna bring you home, Jemma," he had said softly. "I promise."

As he set the frame down, he had noticed Jemma's favorite blanket folded at the bottom of her perfectly made bed. It was deep midnight blue with tiny white stars stretching over the expanse of the material. Jemma had had it since before she started at the Academy, and it had become extremely threadbare. Fitz had actually thought that she might have retired it since he hadn't seen it in a long time, but apparently he had been wrong.

Without thinking, Fitz had picked up the blanket and wrapped it around himself remembering all the nights they had spent talking and watching movies under that blanket in the near decade that he and Simmons had known each other. Fitz had held the soft material up to his face and inhaled deeply. It still smelled like her. Tea and cinnamon and some kind of flower that he couldn't place except for that it smelled like Jemma. And then there was the smallest hint of a smell that Fitz could only ever really describe as science: some combination of chemicals and antiseptic that Fitz found comforting in its familiarity.

After a few minutes sitting on Jemma's bed, he had heard footsteps in the hallway and decided that he needed to go. He had looked down at the blanket wrapped around him and knew that he definitely wasn't leaving it behind, so he had crept back to the room with the stone and sat down on the floor with his laptop, the blanket resting on his shoulders, which was how Skye found him when she woke him up the next morning.

He had started going to bed willingly after a couple weeks, always wrapped in Jemma's blanket, needing to keep her with him, but any sleep he did get was fitful at best. His thoughts were constantly with his best friend in the world, the beautiful woman who had literally _just_ agreed to go on a date with him before the horrible monolith pulled her inside.

If only Fitz hadn't been so distracted that he messed with the locking mechanism on the case. Fitz still didn't know what had happened to make the door completely open, but he was certain that the clumsy slip of his hand down the case's door had something to do with it. He had watched that security footage so many times that he knew every second of it perfectly. If he had just stuck around for a few more seconds, he could have saved her.

The only part of the video that didn't hurt Fitz was the few seconds between his departure and the rock swallowing up his best friend, in which a small smile was clearly visible on Jemma's face, telling him that she really did want to get dinner with him, somewhere nice. He could only hope that she would still want to when they found her. Because they _were_ going to find her. Fitz had made that promise to Skye, and to himself, after he fell apart that first day in front of the Kree stone, and he didn't intend to break it. Nothing, not Hydra, not a coup, and definitely not an enormous alien monolith, could prevent Fitz from being with the woman he was completely and totally in love with.

Fitz hadn't really confided in anyone about the date and his feelings for Jemma, but Skye had asked him why Jemma was smiling in the video a week or so after the event, when they were alone one night watching at the clip over and over looking for clues.

"We were just talking about…" Fitz had paused, not really wanting to share this with anyone except for Jemma, "dinner," he had said finally.

Skye had given him a weird look, but she'd left it at that.

"Copy that, May," Coulson said into his comm, pulling Fitz from his thoughts. "Skye broke through the wall, and May's heading in," Coulson informed him.

Fitz nodded, wringing his hands. "Good thing May got Skye to go on this one or they'd have had to wait for backup."

Coulson offered Fitz a half smile at his words before dropping his eyes back to the floor.

Fitz resumed pacing, trying to prepare himself for the all-too-likely possibility that this mission was just another dead end, but he was unable to stop the seed of hope that was blooming in his mind. Maybe they would find her. Maybe he would get Jemma back today.

As he passed by Coulson, the director gripped Fitz's arm reassuringly.

The pair locked eyes, and Fitz nodded at him, both waiting for May's report.

* * *

After hearing Coulson's affirmation that he received her message, May turned to Skye who was clearly concentrating on preventing any cave-ins. "You good?"

Skye nodded stoically. "Go ahead."

May pulled out a flashlight from a holster around her waist and took a step into the cave, aiming the light in front of her with one hand and holding the scanner out with the other.

As the darkness swallowed her, the scanner began flashing, indicating that something was alive down there with her. May just hoped it was a bat rather than a bear.

She shined her light all around, seeing nothing, before she noticed what was almost an alcove, hidden slightly by a column of rock that jutted out from the wall. May started to step around it cautiously, her flashlight illuminating her path.

Suddenly, a noise came from in front of her, stopping May in her tracks. It sounded almost like a gasp, like someone was breathing heavily, searching for air.

May moved around to look fully into the alcove, and her flashlight fell on a small mass curled up on the ground, moving slightly.

As the light hit it, the mass stirred, stretching out and forming into the shape of a human, a woman.

"What? What's happening?" the woman on the ground spoke, her voice raspy from apparent disuse, but the accent unmistakable.

May almost dropped the scanner. "Oh my God."

"Agent May?" the woman on the ground said, groaning as she moved to sit upright. "Is that you?"

May shook her head, staring, not daring to believe her eyes. "Oh my God," she repeated. "Simmons."


	2. When the Sun Comes Up

_A/N: Thank you guys so much for favoriting, following, and especially reviewing. You all are the best ever!_

 _The chapter title comes from "Whatever Forever" by The Mowgli's._

* * *

Simmons started to stand up, using the cave wall for support, but May moved forward to help, setting down the still-blinking scanner on the cave floor.

"Thanks," Simmons said with a small smile that was just barely visible in the dim glow of the flashlight. "I'm not too used to standing." She started stretching out her arms and legs as she leaned on May's shoulder.

May couldn't find the words to reply. This was just so… impossible. Of course there had always been a chance that one day Simmons would be at the site that was being searched, but just in terms of probability it was practically unthinkable, with so many sites on Fitz's list and so many more that they hadn't even discovered yet. But here she was. After four months of searching, a full month of missions, everyone ready to give up and stop looking, here was Agent Simmons. They'd done it. Or, more accurately, _Fitz_ had done it. There was no way the missions would have even started, much less gone on for an entire month, without Fitz's determination to leave no stone unturned in the search for his best friend. May was willing to bet that, Fitz aside, the entire base, herself included, would have said that finding Simmons was a lost cause if asked this morning. May had never in her life been happier to be wrong.

May shook her head, staring at the scientist in front of her. Simmons was still wearing the now-familiar clothes that she had been wearing when the stone took her. Nothing about her had changed. "I can't believe it," May said finally. "I can't believe you're here."

Hesitating only a moment, May turned and pulled Simmons into a hug. This wasn't May's normal reaction in situations like this, but, then again, there had never really _been_ a situation quite like this. And besides, May was a different woman than she had been when Simmons had been taken four months before. May was ready to admit that she had really, _really_ missed Simmons during her absence. The team wasn't complete without their biochemist, and May had found it difficult to go about her daily life without the younger woman who she respected just as much as Simmons had always respected her. May hadn't told anyone except Andrew how hurt she really was by the loss of Simmons – not that she didn't think that Coulson and Skye suspected she was just as broken up about it as they were – because it wasn't her place. She had to stay strong and be supportive for Fitz, for Skye, even for Coulson. But here in this cave, she let it all go, holding onto Simmons, trying to make her understand how much she meant to May, how much she meant to the entire team. How much May had missed her. How surprised and relieved and just simply grateful she was to have Simmons here in this cave with alien markings on the door in the side of a cliff in the middle of nowhere. How happy she was to have found her. Finally.

May pulled back and Simmons smiled up at her, with what might have been the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "Thanks for finding me."

May smiled slightly. "No problem." Then her eyes turned more serious. "Do you know how you got here?"

Simmons looked around the cave curiously and shook her head, her eyes unsure. "Honestly, I don't even know where here is. I'm not sure what happened. The stone swallowed me up, and then I saw… I don't know what I saw. Alien though, all of it was alien. I- I don't…" she trailed off.

May nodded, not totally understanding, but knowing that now was not the time for this conversation. "That's okay. We'll deal with that when we get back to base."

Simmons nodded, but then looked up at her, concerned. "How long was I gone?"

May frowned slightly. "Almost four months."

Simmons's eyes widened. "Four months? I've been gone four months?" She shook her head slowly in disbelief. "I would have guessed one, _maybe_ two, but four! Fitz must have been… oh my God, Fitz!" She leaned her head on her hand, clearly upset.

"What is it?" May asked, softly.

Simmons sighed looking up at May, her eyes sad. "We had a date," she said simply.

May's eyebrows raised just the slightest bit at this revelation, knowing that there had to be more to the story than that, but she decided not to dwell on it, knowing that Skye was waiting outside and that she really needed to talk to Coulson and Simmons's aforementioned date. "Well, who says you still don't?" May smiled slightly, grabbing the scanner from the ground. She nudged Simmons toward the window of light that marked the door where Skye was waiting. "Come on, Simmons. Let's get you home. There are a lot of people who will be really happy to see you."

* * *

Skye felt like she had been waiting outside the cave for ages. It wasn't that hard to stand here and check the cave walls, especially since the only place where there seemed to even be any potential danger was right by the entrance, but Skye was anxious. The cave wasn't very big, and not having any contact with May, even for just a couple minutes, was disconcerting. The small noises that Skye could barely hear from inside the cave weren't really helping either.

"Anything yet?" Lincoln called down from above her.

"Nope!" Skye called back, sighing.

She was just considering calling out to May to ask if everything was okay when she heard the sounds of footsteps echoing toward her, which was odd because May's footsteps were usually silent.

She narrowed her eyes, but before she could even consider the possibilities, two figures appeared in the entryway. May was on the right with one arm around the woman next to her. A woman neither Skye nor anyone else had seen for almost four months.

"JEMMA!" Skye practically screamed, launching herself at the scientist the moment she and May had exited the cave. She threw her arms around Simmons, hugging her as tightly as possible, tears of joy welling up in her eyes. "Oh my God, It's you. I can't believe it's you."

Without Skye's support, the walls of the entrance crumbled slightly, a couple rocks just missing May who was closest to the mouth of the cave. May shot Skye a glance clearly meant to criticize her lack of focus, but any real disapproval was overshadowed by the smile on May's face.

"Sorry," Skye said to May over Jemma's shoulder, conceding that her actions hadn't been totally safe, but not really caring as she held onto her long lost friend. Skye was sure that a S.H.I.E.L.D. team would have to come back here and examine the cave at some point and that she would have to go with them and clear out the debris, but right now, there was no way Skye was going to care about a stupid cave when Jemma Simmons was standing in front of her, alive and well, a smile on her face, looking not too worse for wear after spending four months trapped in a cave.

Skye laughed through her tears, the grin that covered her face larger than it had been in a very, very long time. "LINCOLN! WE FOUND HER!" She yelled up to her partner, wanting to do nothing more than shout this information from the mountains.

"WHAT?" The other Inhuman yelled back, peering down over the edge, his face lighting up when he saw Skye hugging the scientist. "Oh my God, it's her! Agent Simmons! How…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," May called up to Lincoln. "Let Henry know the situation."

Lincoln grinned and nodded, moving back from the edge.

Skye still had yet to release Simmons. "We found you! We found you! We found you!" she kept repeating, as though the words were necessary to keep her friend there with her.

Simmons burst out laughing. "If this is the kind of reception I'm going to get, I'll start thinking about getting swallowed up by an alien rock more often."

Skye stopped laughing and pulled back slightly, glaring at her friend. "Don't you dare do that to us again."

Jemma smiled, wiping away a tear of her own. "Don't worry, Skye. I really wasn't planning on it." She looked up at the sky and brushed her hair out of her face. "Sunlight. I've definitely missed that."

"Jemma, what happened to you? How did you-"

"Not the time, Skye," May interrupted, gesturing around them at the fact that they were all perched rather precariously on a large boulder. "Let's get back onto solid ground before you start asking questions."

Skye nodded, understanding, but she couldn't resist pulling Jemma in for another hug. "It's just so great to see you."

Simmons grinned. "It's great to see you too."

Skye motioned for Simmons to climb up first, as Skye watched from the boulder to make sure that her friend didn't fall on her way to the top of the plateau. "You've gotta call Coulson," Skye said to May behind her, her eyes still on Jemma.

"I was just about to," she heard May agree behind her in a tone that Skye really didn't recognize.

She turned around to look at her S.O. and was confronted with an unfamiliar sight. Stoic, unemotional Agent Melinda May was _crying_ as she watched Simmons climb up to Lincoln.

"Don't say a word," May threatened once she noticed Skye staring at her, but the sharpness of her words was undermined by the fact that she was wiping tears from her eyes. May sighed. "I'm just really glad we've got her back, Skye."

Skye grinned, fairly certain that she wasn't going to ever be able to stop smiling, as she turned back to see Simmons disappear over the top of the last boulder. "You and me both, May." Skye prepared to follow Simmons up the side of the cliff. "And think of what Fitz is gonna do!" she called back to her S.O. "I wish he was here to see this."

* * *

"Coulson."

Coulson sucked in his breath as May spoke. "I read you. What's the status?" Fitz's eyes were locked on Coulson, and he appeared frozen, not even fidgeting.

Coulson heard May take a breath and… was that a sniffle?

"May?"

"Sorry," she said with another deep breath, apparently calming herself. "It's just, we found her, Coulson. We found Agent Simmons. She's alive. She's okay. She's- we found her."

Coulson would have collapsed onto the floor of the lab if he hadn't been leaning up against a table. "Oh my God."

"What is it, sir?" Fitz said, his eyes a mixture of worry and just a hint of hope.

For the first time in months, a true smile spread across Coulson's face as he looked up at the younger man. "They found her, Fitz. They found her."

* * *

 _They found her._ Coulson's words echoed in Fitz's head.

"They- they found- they found _Jemma_?"

Coulson nodded, his eyes shiny. "They found Jemma," he repeated in confirmation. "She's coming home."

Fitz immediately burst into motion, his hands sliding over his face and up through his hair as he took short gasping breaths, not sure whether he was laughing or crying. "Oh my God. Oh my God." He threw his head back, smiling wider than he had since he discovered that Jemma was missing four months previously. He knew that he probably looked insane to all the workers in the lab, but he didn't care in the slightest because Jemma was coming home! "They found her!" he repeated Coulson's words louder, throwing his arms out. "THEY FOUND HER!"

Coulson laughed and pulled Fitz in for a hug, clapping him on the back.

Tears were streaming down Fitz's face. "Is- is she okay?" he asked Coulson, just needing to hear the words.

Coulson nodded, his grin growing wider, if anything. "May said she's doing just fine." He laughed slightly. "I think May was actually crying she was so happy, but don't tell her I told you."

Fitz grinned appreciatively and wiped the tears from his eyes. "I can't believe she was there. After all these weeks…" He trailed off.

Coulson smiled at him softly. "I'm so proud of you, Fitz. These missions would never have happened without your hard work and perseverance. Jemma's only on her way back right now because of you. I almost lost hope after that first week of unsuccessful missions, but you never came close. Jemma and our entire team are so lucky to have you. Thank you, Fitz."

Fitz shook his head. "I knew I wouldn't have been able live with myself if I didn't find her, sir. It was something I had to do."

Coulson nodded. "Then I'm glad you did it." He glanced at his watch. "Well, let's get moving, they'll be back at base in a few hours."

Fitz stopped at Coulson's words. It was so tangible. Jemma would be back home with him in time for dinner, not that he was expecting them to have their somewhere nice dinner tonight or anything, it was just the idea that he would have the most important person in his entire world back with him in time to do something normal like eat dinner. Fitz couldn't imagine anything better than that.

Coulson nudged Fitz to bring him back to reality. "Come on, there's a lot to do. Operation Welcome Home is a go."

Fitz's eyes went wide at the director's words. "I've waited such a long time to hear you say that."

Coulson smiled. "Go find Mack, tell him the good news. I need to report to Agent Weaver, and I'll try to get in touch with Hunter and Bobbi and see if they want to stop by. They'll be glad to know Simmons is okay."

Fitz nodded and turned to head for the garage, when one of the previously annoyed-looking lab workers came up to him.

"Did you just say that Agent May found Dr. Simmons?" the scientist asked cautiously. Fitz vaguely recognized the older man from the months he had spent in the lab while Simmons was at Hydra.

Fitz almost hugged the man, despite the fact that he barely knew him. "Yeah," he said nodding, calmer now but still beaming. "They found her." He was saying the words, and he knew they were true, but it felt like he was living in a dream, like any second he would wake up and Coulson would tell him that Jemma was still missing.

But this was real. The scientist's face broke into a huge grin as the other workers around the lab broke out into cheers.

"Congratulations, Dr. Fitz," the older man said, shaking Fitz's hand as though he had just won an award, which, really, was how Fitz felt at the moment, not that Jemma was a prize to be won, but just that knowing she was coming back was the greatest feeling in the world. "We've all really missed having Dr. Simmons in the lab." There were nods of agreement from around the room, and Fitz suddenly felt a surge of affection for the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. science division that clearly cared so much about Jemma.

"Thanks," Fitz replied genuinely, nodding at all of them. "That means a lot."

With a smile, Fitz excused himself from the lab and headed to the garage in search of his friend.

Mack was sitting in a corner working on part of an engine that Fitz knew belonged to one of their smaller planes.

"Turbo!" Mack said when he noticed Fitz had entered the garage. "Any news?" Mack was clearly trying not to sound too positive or negative, though his eyes were sad.

Fitz couldn't keep the grin off his face as he nodded at his friend.

Mack's mouth fell open. "No. They…"

Fitz nodded harder. "They found her, Mack. They found Jemma."

Mack stared at him, his eyes wide. "You're kidding."

Fitz stared at him, incredulously. "Would I joke about something like this?"

Mack moved the engine part away so he could stand up. "Well, I- I-" Mack shook his head. "I just can't believe it." He clapped Fitz on the back. "This is the greatest news, Turbo. I'm so happy for you."

"I can't wait to see her, Mack," Fitz said, staring into space for a moment, his thoughts with Jemma. "Just a few hours and she'll be back here where she belongs."

Mack raised his eyebrows. "Operation Welcome Home?"

Fitz looked up at his friend, his smiling growing even wider. "It's a go. You should check in with Coulson."

Mack nodded, shot one last grin at Fitz, and left the garage.

Fitz checked his watch and decided to get to work. He wanted everything to be perfect for Jemma's return, which meant dusting off the shelves in her bedroom, which Fitz knew from many middle of the night visits had gotten very dusty, tidying up her workspace that he'd taken over and cluttered up considerably during the past four months, and possibly returning her favorite blanket, though Fitz wasn't so sure he could let that one go. He might have to check with Jemma later.

He first stopped to collect some of Jemma's things from where they were strewn around the room with the monolith. He glared at the rock out of habit, but his face softened after a moment.

"Thanks for giving her back," he said quietly, not caring that he was talking to an inanimate object. Today was just too wonderful a day to be angry, even at alien rocks that ate Simmons.

* * *

May had regained her composure by the time she reached the top of the plateau. Lincoln and Skye were practically jumping up and down around Simmons, who was laughing at their excitement. It was times like this when May remembered just how young her team was. Still in their twenties, they had all seen a lot of terrible things, but they were still bursting with enthusiasm. If only Fitz had been there. May smiled softly to herself. She'd have to ask Coulson how Simmons's partner had taken the news. It was hard to imagine a more joyful reaction than Skye's, but Fitz had lost his other half and now he had her back. May knew that she would have done a bit more than tear up if it had been Andrew, or Coulson for that matter, lost for four months.

Skye beamed at May knowingly when she climbed up beside them, pulling her in for a hug, which May returned, reputation be damned.

"What'd Coulson say?" Skye asked excitedly.

May smiled. "He's absolutely thrilled."

Skye laughed and grabbed her friend's hand. "Come on, Simmons; we have to get you back to base. Fitz will be going crazy!"

Simmons, however, looked worried. "Is he okay, Fitz? Why isn't he here too? When I left the last time, I know he… he didn't do so well." She looked down at her feet, kicking stones absently.

Skye turned and grabbed Simmons's other hand causing the scientist to look up.

"He's doing fine, Jemma," Skye said seriously. "He really is. Coulson's been looking out for him, and so have me and Mack. This isn't like last time." She smiled to herself. "And he really wanted to come, but that's part of a longer story that I can tell you on the way back." She shook her head. "The important thing is that he's okay, Jemma. Really, he is."

Simmons considered Skye's words for a moment before nodding. "Good. Thank you."

Skye nudged her with her shoulder. "Hey. This isn't your fault, Jemma. Don't beat yourself up over it." Skye's face brightened. "And Fitz just found out that you're okay and coming back, so if I were to take a guess at how Fitz is doing right _now_ , I'd say really _really_ well."

Simmons finally let herself smile again, her cheeks reddening slightly. "Okay. Let's go then!"

Skye laughed. "That's what I like to hear!"

The girls linked arms and started walking back to the ship, Lincoln following along, a wide smile on his face despite that fact that he really didn't know Simmons well at all.

When the girls reached the plane, Henry ran out to greet them, positively beaming at the sight of Simmons.

"Dr. Simmons! It's so wonderful to see you again!" Her fellow scientist held out his hand for her to shake it, but Simmons just laughed and pulled him into a hug instead.

"I've been gone four months, Dr. Henry," she laughed, "I think we're past handshakes for today at least."

Henry laughed in reply. "Whatever you say, Dr. Simmons." He gestured to the plane. "Come inside, I need to do a cursory examination, make sure everything's okay. You'll have a full physical when we reach the base, of course."

Simmons nodded along with his words, following him inside as Lincoln took care of the equipment.

Skye turned to May, not speaking, just smiling. May understood.

They climbed into the plane, and May moved to the cockpit, telling everyone to buckle up and prepare for takeoff.

May smiled just thinking that she would be able to tell Andrew the good news when she got back. For the first time since Hydra, maybe even since Bahrain, May felt like everything was going to be okay. She turned around to look at her passengers, all of whom were grinning widely and laughing at something Skye had said. _Actually,_ she thought as she pulled up the ramp and started maneuvering the plane into the air, _it might just be better than okay_.

* * *

Skye knew this was the happiest she had been in a really long time as she sat between Lincoln and Jemma, brining their long-absent friend up to speed on Inhuman recruitment, while Dr. Henry took Jemma's vitals and made sure that her four month absence had caused her no lasting physical damage. They were all avoiding the elephant on the plane – where Simmons had been for four months and how she had gotten there – but they were so happy to be back together again that it didn't really matter.

As the conversation lulled and Henry pronounced Simmons perfectly healthy, pending additional blood work and tests back at the lab, Jemma turned to Skye, a question plain in her eyes. "So, um, how did you find me?"

Skye sighed, knowing this had to come up sometime, but not really wanting to talk about the past four months and how she had almost given up hope. "It was Fitz," she said after a moment. "He's done absolutely everything to get you back. The only reason we're here right now is because he tracked down some alien specialist that had faked his own death and gone into hiding. It took him _ages_ to find out that this guy wasn't dead and then to actually find him. Then all we got from him was some information about aliens and geology, which left Fitz with a _huge_ list of sites where you could be. There's been a full month of missions, almost forty now, searching for you. The only reason he isn't here right now is that he already went on five missions this week and Coulson grounded him so he could eat and get some sleep." Skye half smiled at the thought. "And even when he's grounded, he never stops worrying and never stops hoping. He just paces around the lab or the garage or that room with the awful stone while everyone's gone. And after every unsuccessful mission he'll just say that we're one step closer to finding you, that there's one more place he can cross off the list." Skye shook her head. "We've all missed you like crazy, Jemma, but Fitz… Fitz missed you most."

Simmons wiped tears from her eyes as Skye did the same.

"I don't deserve him," Jemma said softly, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "I wasn't there for him at all this past year, and he just went and saved my life. I mean we were both really bad at communicating and actually saying what we wanted and why we did what we did, and we both didn't trust each other, but still." She sighed. "And we had a date."

Skye's eyes went wide. This was new. She remembered Fitz saying something about "dinner" being the reason that Simmons was smiling in the surveillance video right before the stone swallowed her, but calling it a date outright was definitely unexpected.

"Well, now that you're back," Skye said, leaning against her friend supportively, "you and Fitz can go on a million dates."

Jemma smiled, a blush creeping across her cheeks as she nudged Skye away.

"But don't take this support as me saying I'm not going to make fun of you guys," Skye added, seriously, "because I am _so_ going to make fun of you guys."

Jemma laughed exasperatedly. "Oh, Skye."

"Kidding, kidding," Skye held up her hands in surrender. "I'll give you guys a few days to get it together, and _then_ I'll start making fun of you."

Jemma threw her head in her hands in a fake show of annoyance as Skye looped her arms around her in a hug, laughing at her friend.

It was almost like Simmons had never been away.

May radioed to Coulson that Simmons appeared to be in perfect health, but then she gave him a few cryptic instructions in a low voice that even Skye could barely hear. Skye narrowed her eyes at her S.O., but one glance from May told her that the secret was for Simmons's benefit and that Skye would be told what was going on soon enough.

The rest of the flight passed in a combination of laughter and stories, with a few tense moments when the topic of discussion got too close to Simmons's disappearance.

Skye wanted desperately to know what had happened to her friend and how she had ended up in an alien cave in the side of a cliff, but when Skye started to ask, Simmons avoided her gaze and said that she didn't really know.

"I haven't figured it all out yet," Jemma said, her eyes fixed on the floor of the plane. "I have to think about it, put it together."

Skye nodded, despite her curiosity, knowing that Jemma would talk when she was ready and that it was probably better if she talk to Fitz about things first if something had happened that she didn't understand.

About halfway between the plateau and the base, Simmons asked, very hesitantly, about her parents. May replied immediately that Coulson had told them that she was on an extended mission and would contact them when she was able.

"He didn't want them to worry before it was absolutely necessary," May explained with a small smile.

Simmons nodded her understanding, but then asked to borrow a phone to let them know she was fine and that her "mission" had been successful.

"Hi Mum! Yes, it's me, who else would it be?" Simmons laughed into the phone as Skye tried not to eavesdrop, a difficult task since the plane was so small. "Everything went fine." A pause. "No, it wasn't dangerous." Another laugh. "You know I can't tell you what I was doing." A longer pause this time. "I'm sorry I didn't call you myself. I had to leave rather suddenly, and there wasn't time." A small smile. "Yeah, Fitz is fine. I haven't seen him yet, but it'll be nice to be back with him again." Skye could tell that Simmons was working hard not to sound too excited about the prospect of seeing Fitz, but the grin on Jemma's face as she said that it would be nice to see him told Skye everything she needed to know.

Simmons talked to her mother for a few more minutes, typical parent/child conversation about things going on back home, until Simmons said she had to go but that she'd call again soon.

"Sorry about that," Simmons apologized, moving back to sit beside Skye as she handed her back her phone. "But thank you."

But Skye shook her head, trying to resist rolling her eyes at her overly-courteous friend. "You've been missing for four months, Jemma; make all the phone calls you need."

The entire flight seemed to be both quick and unbelievably lengthy at the same time. Skye was grateful for the time she got to spend with Simmons, but she could tell that her friend was definitely preoccupied with something, or, more likely, someone.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D. plane 024 making its descent into the Playground," May finally radioed down to the base. "Strap in," she called back to the rest of the team.

Simmons took a deep breath, and Skye grabbed her arm supportively.

The plane touched down, and May parked it in the hanger.

Skye grinned, looking over at her friend. "Welcome home, Jemma."

* * *

Fitz had been pacing back in forth in front of the hanger door for the past fifteen minutes. He had accomplished everything he had wanted to this afternoon and then some, making sure that everything was in place for later. Mack had told Fitz to take a walk after he caught Fitz looking at his watch for the fifth time in the space of two minutes as he anxiously waited for the return of the mission team, plus one missing scientist. Which left Fitz to go down to the hanger and try to get out his nervous energy.

This pacing was different from the worried walking in circles he had done around the lab earlier that afternoon as he waited for news, hoping against hope that this would be the mission where they would finally find Jemma. He was just as nervous as he had been then, but this time he was smiling, trying to figure out what he could possibly say to Jemma after being separated from her like this for four months. They had spent almost this much time apart before, her stint at Hydra the previous year, for example, but that had been on Jemma's own terms, and they hadn't been separated just after Fitz had asked her to get dinner with him. This was new territory for them, and Fitz wasn't really sure how things were going to be once Jemma got back. This worry was the reason for the pacing, but it definitely hadn't wiped the huge grin off his face that had appeared a few hours before when Coulson said those beautiful words, "they found her."

Mack came out from inside the base and just laughed.

"What?" Fitz said, turning to him, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Mack shook his head. "You look so nervous, Turbo! Come on, lighten up! It's your best friend coming back. Quit with the pacing!"

Fitz hung his head sheepishly as Mack came over and clapped him on the back supportively.

Before either one could say anything else, Coulson walked in, a spring in his step that Fitz hadn't seen in a long time. "They're landing."

As if to emphasize Coulson's point, the small plane May and her team had taken that morning pulled in and settled itself about fifty feet away from where the three men stood.

They moved closer, and the ramp lowered. Fitz took a deep breath.

First out were Henry and Lincoln, all smiles as they unloaded equipment, Mack moving over to help. Fitz barely even noticed them, his eyes searching for the woman he had been waiting to see for so long.

She stepped onto the ramp with Skye on one side and May on the other. She was wearing the same clothes that she had been wearing four months before, and, besides some dirt on her jeans, everything about her seemed exactly the same.

Fitz stared, tears welling up in his eyes at the sight of Jemma Simmons, back at S.H.I.E.L.D., right in front of him, not trapped in an alien artifact or a hidden cave.

It took a moment for Jemma's eyes to find his, but when they did, they stayed there. She hadn't made it completely off the ramp, but she froze where she was, her lips curling up into a smile and a single tear running down her cheek.

Fitz was certain that he had never seen a more beautiful sight in his entire life.


	3. The Best Day Ever

_A/N: As always thank you so much to everyone who's been favoriting, following, and reviewing. You all are lovely._

 _This chapter finally has the scene that's the reason this entire fic exists in the first place, so I really hope you guys like it._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

After a few moments watching Fitz and Simmons stare at each other, Coulson determined that Fitz wasn't actually going to do anything, so Coulson stepped forward instead. "It's so great to see you, Jemma."

His head scientist's eyes snapped away from Fitz's, and she turned to the director as though noticing for the first time that Fitz was not the only person waiting to greet her in the hanger. It took her a moment to register what Coulson had said, but then she beamed at him, finally stepping off the ramp. "Oh, you have no idea," she laughed. "Thank you so much for everything you did to get me back." She moved toward him, and Coulson pulled her into a hug.

"You're welcome, even though I'm really not the person you should be thanking," he said softly, smiling down at his missing scientist, "but I bet you know that already."

Jemma nodded over his shoulder. "Yeah, I've been told." She glanced down at his arm. "I like your hand." She smiled genuinely.

Coulson beamed proudly as if he'd grown it himself. "Mack designed it, and Fitz modified it. Works like a charm."

Fitz's name caught Simmons's attention, and Coulson knew he had lost her focus, so he stepped back and turned to address May, Skye, Lincoln, and Henry who were all watching the reunion with wide smiles on their faces, except May, whose smile was small but equal in meaning. "Can you all come back to my office for your debriefing? And Mack could you take that equipment back to the lab?" he added to the other man who nodded at him with a sly glance at Fitz.

Coulson turned back to Simmons who was alternating between looking at him and glancing back at Fitz whose eyes had not left her since she stepped out of the plane. "Agent Simmons, I'll need to debrief you too, and you'll need a full medical exam, but go ahead and take a moment." He nodded at Fitz who suddenly looked over at him, blinking, his cheeks reddening. Coulson fought the urge to roll his eyes.

Coulson motioned to the rest of the team to leave the hanger to give Fitzsimmons some privacy.

"We can't stay to watch?" Skye whined, saddling up to him as they walked away from the unmoving scientists.

Coulson actually did roll his eyes at that.

Skye merely laughed, but she pulled him in for a hug as they stepped through the doors to the base. "This is just the best day ever."

Coulson smiled in agreement. "Yeah, it really is."

* * *

Fitz and Simmons stared at each other in silence as the doors to the hanger closed behind the rest of the team.

After a long pause, Jemma took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, Fitz."

If there was anything Fitz had expected Jemma Simmons to say after four months of being trapped in a cave away from base, this was definitely not it. He furrowed his brow. "What?"

Jemma stared at him regretfully. "We had a date."

And that was it. Before Fitz even knew what was happening, he was running to Jemma and she was running to him and then his arms were around her waist and hers were around his neck and he was holding her to him as tightly as he could, vowing to himself that he would never, ever let her go.

His eyes locked with Jemma's and in another instant she had closed the last of the distance between them and pressed her lips to his.

It took Fitz a couple seconds to understand exactly what was happening. _Jemma Simmons_ was _kissing him_ in the _middle of the hanger_ , and this really had to be the greatest day of his life.

He responded by pulling her closer to him, if that was possible, his hands gripping her back tightly as his lips moved across hers. He sighed, tilting his head to kiss her more deeply, but he felt Jemma smile against his lips and then laugh.

He pulled back, affronted. "What was that?" he demanded, though he figured the fact that he was definitely blushing intensely probably took away some of his desired effect.

His assumption quickly proved correct as his words only caused Jemma to laugh harder.

"Jemma!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She wiped away a couple tears with her hand. "It was just, I was so happy and then you were being so, well so _you_ , about it and I just… Sorry." A small giggle escaped her lips, severely undermining her apology.

"If I'm that rubbish at kissing, you can just say so," Fitz said, starting to pull away from her, but Jemma stopped him, her hands gripping his forearms tightly.

"That's not it at all, Fitz," she said, the laughter gone from her voice. "I promise you, the very _last_ thing you are rubbish at is kissing."

Fitz stared at her, his mind turning her words over in his head. "Okay… but, _you_ kissing _me_?" He gestured aimlessly. "What?"

Jemma laughed again, moving to close the space between them. "We never got to talk about what you said to me at the bottom of the ocean." She looked up at him for a moment. "And don't think I didn't do that on purpose, Fitz, because I just spent four months without you, and I'm not wasting anymore time." She sighed and buried her head in Fitz's chest.

Fitz could sense that Jemma was overwhelmed from her ordeal and that this wasn't really the right moment to have their big discussion about feelings and what he _had_ said to her at the bottom of the ocean, but that didn't stop him from smiling at Jemma's assurance that the kiss hadn't been a mistake, that she'd wanted to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss her. So he just wrapped his arms around Jemma and held her to him, breathing her in.

He could smell that scent that just was just barely hanging on to the blanket he had stolen almost four months before. Tea, cinnamon, that flowery smell, and just a hint of science. Plus a little bit of dirt, but that was to be expected since she'd been found in a cave. He momentarily had the thought that he would gladly give Simmons her blanket back if he was allowed to hold her like this all the time. He just couldn't believe she was here. Four months of worry and bad dreams and frantic, frantic searching, and now she was in his arms, alive and unharmed.

But, like Jemma had just said, it had taken him _four months_. Just because she was back now didn't erase the months that she had been stuck in that cave. And what if it had taken longer? What if Coulson had forced him to stop searching because he hadn't found her quick enough? That thought had been haunting Fitz for months now. Would he still have Jemma if Coulson had ended things? Fitz didn't even want to consider it.

A tear dripped down his nose and landed on the top of Jemma's head. She looked up at him, concern in her eyes.

"What is it, Fitz?"

Fitz shook his head and rubbed at his eyes, but Jemma kept staring at him, so he finally sighed.

"It's just, you were gone for four months, Jemma. Four bloody months, and I still don't even know where you were and what happened, and I'm so sorry it took so long, Jemma. Four months is four months too long for you to have been stuck wherever you were, and I'm sorry. And then I can't help but think about what would have happened if we hadn't gotten to this site for another month. What if Coulson stopped letting me plan these missions? What if we hadn't found you?" He stopped to choke back a sob, determinedly looking anywhere but at her.

"Jemma," his voice broke so he started again. "Jemma, I missed you so much. These have been the worst months of my life, the ones after the med pod and everything included, because at least then I knew you were okay, even if I wasn't." He paused for a moment, considering. "Course eventually I found out you were working at Hyrdra, which would have made me even more of a wreck than I already was, but at least I had Coulson saying he knew where you were and that you were safe." He stopped to wipe the tears from his eyes. "But the worst bit is that some days I almost felt like giving up. We went to site after site, and you were never there, and I just tried to tell myself and everyone else that we were just one step closer to finding you, but there were a lot of times when I couldn't even believe that myself. What if I had stopped looking? I could have lost you forever, Jemma, and I- I just can't imagine my life without you."

Fitz stared at the ceiling, catching his breath, until he noticed that Jemma was crying heavily into his shirt.

"Oh no, Jemma," he said, his arms wrapping around her protectively again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to-"

Jemma looked up and shook her head at him, the rest of his words dying in his throat.

She took a few moments to compose herself before she finally sighed and gave him a look that Fitz had seen all too many times.

"Oh Fitz." Both of them smiled slightly at the familiarity of the phrase. Jemma shook her head, continuing. "Only you would save my life and then beat yourself up over what would have happened if you _hadn't_ saved it." She held a hand up to rest on his cheek. "You're my hero, Fitz. You've been beside me the whole damn time, remember?" She offered him a small smile.

Fitz sniffled quietly, thinking of how they had yelled at each other through the glass that day Jemma was infected by the alien virus. He had almost lost her then too. "I could never let you go, Jemma."

She looked up at him almost sadly. "Thank you, Fitz." She sighed. "I don't deserve you."

Fitz's mouth fell open at that. " _You_? _You_ don't deserve _me_? What planet have you been on that you can even think that when it's clearly the other way round?" Fitz froze when he realized what he had said. "Um," he added hesitantly, "you haven't actually been on another planet, have you?"

Jemma laughed again, and Fitz let himself just enjoy that beautiful sound that he had missed so much during the past four months, and the rest of the past year if he was being completely accurate.

"No, I wasn't on another planet, at least not exactly," Jemma said carefully. "I don't actually have too much of an idea what happened." She paused for a moment, thinking, but then she shook her head. "Stop trying to change the subject. I'm trying to say thank you, and you're just making this about me." She shot him a joking half smile.

Fitz returned the smile, but then something Jemma had said made him pause.

"This" he gestured between them "isn't all just gratitude for me finding you or pity because Skye told you something about how bad I was while you were gone, is it?" He stared down at her worriedly. "Because if it is, Jemma, then I can't do this. I don't want us to be like this because I'm your "hero" or something stupid like that. I can't…" he trailed off as Simmons stepped away from him, her eyes not angry but hurt.

"How could you even say something like that, Fitz?" she almost yelled at him, her voice thick with emotion. "After everything we've been through, how could you _possibly_ think that I'd pretend about something like this just because I was _grateful_ or because I _felt sorry_ for you?" She shook her head. "You keep saying how much you missed me, but I missed you just as much, Fitz, don't you ever doubt that. It might not have been the same for me, but regardless of what you did to get me back, I still feel the same way. Don't you dare make this less than it is."

Fitz shrunk back from Jemma. "I'm… I'm sorry. I was just…" He shook his head. "I guess we just never got to really talk about it."

He stood in silence for a moment, staring at the ground, expecting Jemma to leave and go find Skye or May or anyone who wasn't him, but then a soft hand reached out to take his. He looked up and found himself eye to eye with Jemma again. Instead of the pain he was expecting to see, her eyes were full of forgiveness and apology. "You're right, Fitz," she said gently. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have expected you to just know how I felt."

Fitz wrapped his free arm around Jemma and pulled her back to him, leaning his forehead against hers. "It's okay, Jemma. I shouldn't have said anything. I just panicked. This all just seems too good to be true, you know?" He smiled down at her. "We'll talk about everything later."

Jemma pulled back slightly. "Is that okay? Only I just don't quite want to-"

Fitz kissed her forehead to reassure her. "It's fine. We can wait as long as you need to."

Jemma smiled at him, all traces of sadness gone from her eyes. "Thank you. I mean for everything." She looked around her, as though taking in the hanger for the first time. "I just can't believe I'm actually here."

"I can't either," Fitz said, smiling softly, but then he grew serious for a moment. "Please don't leave me again, Jemma," he said, almost helplessly. "Please."

"Never," Jemma assured him, her smile growing wider. "I'm not going anywhere."

Fitz had thought that the happiest he could ever be was seeing Jemma alive and well walking down the ramp from the plane, but he had definitely been wrong. Almost instantly a smile matching Jemma's appeared on his face and he laughed partly from relief but more than anything from an overwhelming sense of happiness. He picked Jemma up and spun her around as she laughed with him, clinging to his arms, her face radiant in the light that shined through the windows of the hanger.

"I'm so glad you're home, Jemma," Fitz said as he set her back down on the ground.

Jemma stared up at him, her eyes watery, but from joy, he knew, not from sadness. "Oh, me too, Fitz."

Fitz saw no other option than kissing her again, a decision to which Jemma responded eagerly, moving her lips against his and running her fingers through his hair. This time, Jemma didn't laugh as Fitz pulled her in, and she was the one to deepen the kiss, tilting her head and making Fitz's breath hitch. He had thought about kissing Jemma over the past few months far more than he would have cared to admit, but all of his dreams paled in comparison to the real thing. Fitz had never been so happy in his entire life.

* * *

"So everyone knows what to do?" Coulson glanced around his office as Skye hopped up and down with excitement, still on the high she'd been riding since Jemma walked out of that underground room with May.

Everyone nodded in response, and Coulson continued, now addressing Henry. "First things first: Simmons's medical exam."

The officer nodded once in reply and then left the room, heading down to the lab to prepare.

"Now, about Simmons's debriefing," Coulson began, but Skye interrupted.

"I don't know if she's ready to talk about it yet, Coulson," she said quickly, remembering Simmons's reluctance to face the subject on the ride back to base. "I think she's still sort of processing it."

Coulson nodded at her, acknowledging her concerns. "Which is why I'm putting it off until tomorrow."

Skye beamed at him. Coulson, despite his serious exterior, really did care about the team, and Skye loved it.

"We'll also need a psych eval," he turned to May who was already nodding.

"I'll talk to Andrew when we're finished here," she said immediately, a small smile appearing on her face.

Skye hadn't been able to focus too much on the change that had occurred within her S.O. during her month away from base, but now that that Simmons had returned and Fitz was okay, Skye was able to consider more seriously the importance of little things like the smile on May's face at just the thought of Dr. Garner. Her mentor was healing from Bahrain and all the tragedy she'd dealt with in the years since, and that thought made Skye even happier than she already was.

"Okay, we have until nine," Coulson continued, but Skye interrupted again.

"Why nine?"

"Because I'm giving Simmons the rest of the evening off, until nine when we, obviously, need her back at base," Coulson explained, just a hint of exasperation in his voice at Skye's repeated interruptions.

Skye narrowed her eyes. "Why would she be off ba- Oh!" A smile spread across Skye's face as the realization of what Coulson had implied dawned on her. "But how did you know about…" Skye trailed off, following Coulson's gaze to May who offered her closest equivalent to a smirk. So _that's_ what May had been radioing Coulson about from the plane: the Fitzsimmons date that had never happened.

Lincoln looked very confused beside her, but Mack seemed to have a good grasp of what was going on, despite not being privy to the Fitzsimmons date revelation. He had spent a lot of time with Fitz over the past year, so Skye assumed he had already figured it out for himself.

"Are we good then?" Coulson asked Skye after a moment, his voice intentionally patronizing, daring her to contradict him again.

Skye rolled her eyes. "Yes."

Coulson gave her a half smile, and Skye realized that Coulson hadn't looked anywhere near this happy in a very long time. Coulson, like May, tended to downplay his emotions, even to those he trusted most, opening up to Skye and May only when he was at his absolute weakest. But even behind his serious façade, Skye could tell that Coulson was overjoyed. He hadn't really, truly joked around with her like this in months. Skye was so grateful for this little moment after the months of worry and sadness. She had missed this.

"Okay team, move out."

Lincoln turned and headed to compile the mission data as Coulson had asked, but the rest of the group stuck with Coulson. May and Mack were heading to the hanger anyway, but Skye, despite her actual assignment, went with them too. Coulson didn't even give her a second glance, as though he had already expected her to ignore her instructions.

As they neared the hanger doors, Skye was suddenly unsure. "Coulson."

The director glanced sideways at her, eyebrows raised.

"What if Fitz and Simmons haven't worked out all their stuff?" Skye asked worriedly. "Simmons seemed pretty upset about it on the plane and I don't know if-"

The rest of Skye's sentence died in her throat as they entered the hanger.

Fifty feet in front of them, Fitz and Simmons were locked in a heated embrace, Fitz's arms around Simmons's back, while her hands worked through his hair.

Coulson turned to smirk at her. "Does that answer your question?"

Skye nodded wordlessly.

Beside her, she heard Mack chuckle. "Way to go, Turbo."

Skye felt a rush of affection for the man who had been Fitz's other close friend and supporter during these past few months. Mack really did care about their engineer, and Skye was extremely grateful for that.

As the group reached the still-oblivious couple standing near the ramp of their plane, Skye looked over at Coulson, silently begging him to let her take care of the situation.

Coulson shrugged as though to say go for it.

Skye grinned almost maniacally and turned back to her distracted friends. "HEY GUYS, WHAT'S UP?"

Fitz and Simmons instantly jumped away from each other so comically that Skye thought getting Simmons back was easily worth it just for this.

"Wonderful weather we've been having," Skye said casually, looking around as though they were outside rather than an enclosed metal airplane hanger.

Fitz was easily the more flustered of the two, his face getting redder and redder by the second. His hair was sticking up in all directions, much longer than it usually was since he had lately been occupied with things far more important than haircuts, and his hands were still set possessively on either side of Simmons's waist. He stared at the ground, dazed, as though unsure of how to proceed.

Simmons, for her part, had quickly fixed her own hair, though that had been done with one hand, as the other one was clutching Fitz's forearm as though he was keeping her from floating away.

"Ah, yes, weather," Simmons finally said.

Skye audibly snorted. Gone was the Simmons of the past year who had been able to lie well enough to last months at Hydra, and in her place was the old Jemma who had shot Agent Sidwell in the chest at the Hub and had said "manscaping" loudly in the lab on the phone with Skye when she was trying to divert attention away from herself. If this was what was going to happen to Simmons if her and Fitz got together, then Skye was all for it.

Coulson sighed exasperatedly beside her, but Skye could tell he was enjoying himself.

"Agent Simmons," he said seriously, though the laughter in his eyes told a different story, "I need you to report to the lab for your full exam."

Simmons nodded hurriedly, clearly glad to have the room's attention focused on something other than her and Fitz's activities. "Yes, of course." She started to move, but Fitz's hand grasped her arm and the pair locked eyes.

Skye knew better than anyone how much of a toll the past four months had taken on Fitz, and she could see that forcing him to separate from Simmons was a bad call.

But before she could say anything, Coulson spoke. "You can come too, Agent Fitz."

Fitz visibly relaxed at Coulson's words, and he looked over at the man gratefully, taking Jemma's hand as the pair walked over to the director.

"Back to work." Coulson nodded at May and Mack who each moved off, May to the plane and Mack to the last of the equipment that had been left in the hanger.

"You too, Skye," Coulson added, the usual seriousness that would have accompanied the order entirely missing.

Skye grinned at him and moved to go before turning around one last time and running to hug Fitz and Simmons.

"I'm really happy for you guys," she said softly.

Jemma smiled at her, almost bashfully.

"Thanks Skye," Fitz said, still blushing profusely, but Skye could tell that he meant it, for her congratulations and for a whole lot more than that.

Skye was sure she was going to cry again if she stayed, so she moved away from her friends, gave a quick wave, and left the hanger.

As she walked back through the base toward the common area where Mack had apparently already started setting stuff up before their arrival, Skye had to blink back tears even as she smiled. May was okay. Coulson was okay. Fitz and Simmons were _definitely_ okay. It wasn't like pain of the past four months had disappeared – Skye knew she would never forget that sickening moment when she had reached out to feel Jemma's presence in the monolith and found nothing – but now they could move past it, make it into a distant memory of a darker time. This was a new chapter, a better chapter, a happier chapter. And they had definitely earned it.

* * *

May was supposed to be running some quick post-flight diagnostics and refueling their plane, but instead she had taken a seat in the cockpit, giving up trying to remain unemotional in the current situation.

Smiling slightly, she pulled out her phone to call Andrew.

"Melinda?" Andrew's voice sounded worried as he picked up the phone after just one ring. "Is everything okay?"

One of the things May loved most about Andrew was how much he cared about her, how he was always willing to drop everything to make sure she was okay. After Bahrain, Andrew's concern for her had been stifling. She had wanted nothing more than to shut everything out, and Andrew had just been there waiting for her to open up, giving her space but staying close if she were to ever need him. May hadn't been able to deal with it, or with anything, which was why she'd left, why she had turned off her emotions and locked everything away inside. But now, Andrew's worry for her was something that May didn't take for granted or try to ignore, instead, she welcomed it gladly.

"Everything's fine, Andrew," May said, her voice constricting as she just happened to glance out the back of the plane in time to see Coulson lead Fitzsimmons back inside the base, the two scientists walking hand-in-hand.

"You don't sound fine," Andrew said skeptically. She could almost see his eyes narrowing as he tried to analyze her.

May took a deep breath, wiping tears from her eyes with her free hand. "No, I'm okay, Andrew. Really. I just wanted to say that Coulson's going to need you to come in this week."

"Okay…" Andrew said slowly, definitely aware that there was something that May wasn't telling him.

"And you'll have to stop by the base later tonight," May added.

"Why?"

May grinned, happy to finally say the words that she'd been longing to say for four months. "Today's mission was a success."

Andrew was silent for a moment. "Today's mission," he said slowly. "That was to look for Simmons…"

"Exactly."

"You found her?" Andrew asked, stunned.

"Yeah, we did." And suddenly May was tearing up again. "We were investigating an underground cave on the side of a cliff and there was no chance she was going to be there, but… she was." May shook her head. "And she's fine, Andrew. Physically at least, there's nothing wrong. All she wanted was to make sure Fitz was okay."

Andrew took a deep breath. "That's just… that's amazing, Melinda. I can't believe it." She could almost hear the smile she knew was on his face. "So that's what Coulson needs me for, then? Simmons's psych eval?"

"And maybe one for Fitz too," May added. "Though, I think he's doing outstandingly well right now. There was a very enthusiastic reunion going on in the hanger just a couple minutes ago."

Andrew laughed. "That's great to hear. I was worried about Fitz. And about you, Melinda. It's so great to hear you this happy again."

May smiled, agreeing with Andrew's statement. "You should see the rest of the base."

"I can't wait," Andrew replied. "When should I come by?"

As May gave him the details of Operation Welcome Home, and he offered a few suggestions of his own, May couldn't help but smile. Skye had been right earlier. Though it wasn't something May would ever say out loud, this was definitely the best day ever.

* * *

Coulson led his two top scientists down the hall to the lab where he knew Henry and most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. science division were waiting both to welcome Simmons back to the lab and to perform her full medical exam.

The pair behind him were holding hands and stealing glances at one another, but Coulson pretended not to see anything. He wasn't generally a supporter of romantic interactions between coworkers that could cause potential problems on the base and in the field, but in this case, Coulson was fairly certain that more problems would arise from these two _not_ being together than from them starting a relationship. For as long as he had known them, Fitzsimmons had been better together, inseparable up until the past year when scientific productivity at S.H.I.E.L.D. had suffered a major decline. Admittedly there were a large number of factors that had gone into that decline, including the collapse of the agency itself, Fitz's injury and months of recovery, and Simmons's stint at Hydra, but he knew from a logistical angle, as well as a personal one, there were no reasons for him to have any objection whatsoever to Fitz and Simmons's relationship.

But it _was_ fun to watch them squirm as they walked down the hallway.

"Sir," Simmons's voice came hesitantly from behind him as they approached the lab.

Coulson turned and looked at his head scientist appraisingly.

"Sir," she said again, "it's just that what you saw with me and Fitz was, well…"

"It was just celebration," Fitz cut in. "That's all. Nothing, uh, nothing improper."

"Absolutely," Simmons agreed, nodding her head vigorously. "Just high spirits and-"

Coulson held up his hand. "Enough."

Fitz and Simmons froze, bracing themselves for some sort of reprimand.

"Simmons, you're not on the clock right now, and Fitz, I've considered you off the clock since we heard the news that Simmons was found earlier this afternoon. What you do in private is nothing to do with me, and frankly if something like that _hadn't_ been happening when I walked into the hanger, I would have been very concerned."

The scientists stared at him.

Coulson rolled his eyes. "You guys work better together anyway. I know it won't affect your work, so why should I have a problem with it?" He shot them a small smile and then gestured to the lab door. "Go ahead Simmons, there's some people in there who really want to see you."

Simmons recovered first. "Thank you, sir." She moved toward the door, Fitz's hand still clasped in her own.

"Actually, Fitz, can I speak to you for a moment."

Fitz looked at Coulson as though he had asked him to remove a limb, which Coulson found ironic considering his own prosthetic.

"You can go with her in a minute, I just need to talk to you first," Coulson clarified, trying not to sound too exasperated.

Jemma nodded to him. "It's okay, Fitz. I'm fine. I'll just be through here." She gestured toward the door.

Fitz sighed and finally nodded back, giving her hand one final squeeze before he let her step into the lab where even from the hallway the men could hear a chorus of "welcome back, Dr. Simmons!" and other similar exclamations.

Fitz stared awkwardly at the ground for a moment.

Coulson ignored the weirdness between them and began. "Operation Welcome Home is a go for tonight, 9PM."

At Coulson's words, Fitz turned to look at him, his face lighting up. "Brilliant!" But then he narrowed his eyes. "Why so late? Are you really planning on debriefing Jemma for that long? She hasn't even told _me_ anything yet. I don't think-"

"I'm not going to be debriefing her tonight," Coulson said over Fitz's objections.

"Oh," Fitz said, stopping short. "Good." He paused for a moment, clearly thinking. "Then why are we waiting until nine?"

"Because I'm giving you and Simmons the rest of the night off," Coulson said matter-of-factly.

Fitz stared at him. "The rest of the night off? _Me_ and Simmons?"

"Yes." Coulson turned to go, but before he left the engineer all alone in the hallway, he added one more suggestion. "I'd say you should do Italian. Simmons likes Italian."

Coulson made it to the end of the hallway before Fitz called after him.

Coulson turned around, eyebrows raised.

"Thank you, sir," Fitz said simply. "For everything."

Coulson nodded. "And thank you for getting her back."

Fitz grinned and then turned to head back to the lab and to Jemma.

Coulson laughed to himself. Everything was going to be just fine.

* * *

Fitz was having a tough time sitting still as Henry and a few other doctors checked out Simmons and took some of her blood. He knew all of this was for her benefit, but Henry had asked that Fitz stay back while they worked, and it was the lack of physical contact that Fitz was having trouble with. It was hard enough for him to wrap his head around the fact that Jemma was back, but being unable to actually feel her there next to him made it worse.

Simmons shot him sympathetic glances every so often, and she giggled every time a doctor asked Fitz to please step back or please could you pace somewhere else Dr. Fitz we need to walk here. At least _someone_ was finding enjoyment from his suffering.

"Okay, we just need to wait for these test results, and then you'll be free to go, Dr. Simmons," Henry said, stepping back.

Without waiting for the okay, Fitz moved toward the examination table where Simmons was seated. She laughed and patted the space next to her, so Fitz hopped up and wrapped his arm around her.

She sank into him with a sigh.

"I just need to know you're real," Fitz said in response to her unasked question.

She smiled into him. "I'm real." Then she looked up curiously. "What did Coulson want to talk to you about?"

Fitz smiled slightly in spite of himself. "He was just telling me that he's going to wait until tomorrow for your debriefing."

Jemma looked at him, confused, but he saw relief behind her eyes. "Did he say why?"

Fitz shook his head. "I think he just wants you to get settled back in first. You've been through a lot." Then, as casually as he could, he added the final detail Coulson had given him. "We've got the rest of the night off though, until nine when he wants us back at base."

Now Jemma was extremely confused. " _We?_ "

"How do you feel about Italian?"

She stared up at him with look much like the one she had given him four months before when he had asked her to get dinner that first time. Her lips curled into a small smile. "Italian sounds perfect."

"Good." Fitz hugged Jemma to his side, not needing so say anything else. Having her there was enough.

Jemma took his free hand in hers and laced their fingers together, drawing patterns on the back of his hand with her thumb as they waited for the all clear from Henry. Fitz closed his eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of her hand in his, a perfect fit like it had always been; only now it meant more than just friendship.

Ten minutes later, Henry reappeared in front of them, a smile on his face. "Everything's just fine, Dr. Simmons. It appears that whatever happened with the stone left you in perfect stasis until May and Skye found you."

Simmons nodded as though she had expected those results, and then she hopped off the table, making sure to keep Fitz's hand in hers. "Thanks for everything, Dr. Henry."

Henry waved his hand. "No trouble at all, Dr. Simmons. We're all just happy you're back."

Fitz and Simmons left the lab to walk back to their bunks, hand in hand and matching smiles on their faces.

"So, I'm going to assume you want to change before we go," Fitz said, but then seeing Jemma's raised eyebrows he immediately backtracked. "Not that you don't look nice now, I mean you always look beautiful, Jemma, 'course you do, I just meant that you've been in a cave for four months, and I figured you'd like to put on something without dirt on it." He cowered slightly.

Jemma had to laugh at him. "I know what you meant, Fitz. I was just teasing. And I really would love to change." She looked down at her clothes. "I've been wearing this outfit for four months now, it's a wonder I don't stink."

Fitz laughed. "You smell lovely, Jemma, don't worry about that."

Jemma blushed slightly. "Thanks, Fitz."

Fitz smiled to himself and squeezed Jemma's hand lightly.

The pair stopped outside her door. "Give me half an hour then?" she asked. "I want to shower quick too, just get the cave feeling off me."

Fitz nodded his understanding, but he didn't move.

"You know, you're gonna have to let me go," she nodded to his hand that was holding hers tightly.

"Oh, uh, right." Fitz released Jemma's hand, his cheeks reddening.

"I'll see you soon, okay?" She leaned in and kissed him quickly before disappearing into her room.

Fitz stood motionless in the hallway for a moment, replaying the day over in his head. This morning he had been worried that he would never see Jemma Simmons again, and now she had just kissed him casually before leaving to get ready for their first real date. Everything was so surreal. With a grin plastered on his face, he practically skipped back to his room, planning on breaking out one of his old favorite ties that Jemma had given him back during their days at SciOps and picking out the best looking Italian place from the list of possible date options he had drawn up to run by Jemma on that awful day four months before. He had kept it out of sight under his mattress ever since the first night that Mack bullied him into going back to his bunk to try and get some rest, but he had never thrown it away, as hopeless as things had seemed at times. He had held on to that belief that Jemma would come back to him some day, and here she was.

As Fitz examined the list and changed into a plaid button down, he realized that, in a stark contrast to earlier in the day, he wasn't particularly nervous. The first time he had asked Jemma to get dinner, he had been distracted and fidgeting with the monolith's glass case, and, even after she had agreed, he had significantly over-prepared, the restaurant list he had compiled taking up a full sheet of paper, front and back, in miniscule writing. This time, Fitz felt much more confident. The worst thing that could have possibly happened had already happened last time, so no matter how good or bad this date was, at least Simmons wasn't going to start the night by getting swallowed by an alien stone. What else was there to worry about? She'd already kissed him, and she'd said that she'd missed him as much as he'd missed her. The only part of the night that Fitz was even a bit wary of was the inevitable conversation about everything between them after the med pod and Jemma going to Hydra, plus the likely additional conversation covering what exactly had happened to Jemma when the stone swallowed her as well as how exactly Fitz had responded to that incident. Really it was the fact that Jemma had already kissed him several times that day that was keeping him together. The knowledge that the woman he was madly, deeply in love with felt at least something for him in return was extremely reassuring. His bad hand didn't even shake as he tied his tie.

The half hour passed quickly, as Fitz checked his appearance in the mirror and made sure he knew the way to the restaurant. The only thing he wished he had was something to give Jemma for the occasion. He knew flowers were typical for dates, but they were on a S.H.I.E.L.D. base isolated from the nearest convenience store by several miles.

A throat cleared behind him, and he turned to see Mack standing in the doorway, car keys in one hand and a small bouquet of pink and blue flowers in the other.

"Thought you might be wanting these," his friend said, smirking.

"How did you-?"

"Coulson suggested that it might be a good idea if I ran out and grabbed a bouquet and then brought you the keys to the car," Mack answered before Fitz could finish his question. The larger man seemed entertained by Fitz's surprise.

Fitz shook his head after a moment, taking both the keys and the flowers. "Thanks, Mack." He offered his friend a small smile. "I mean for everything. These past few months have been awful, but you were always there making sure I got sleep and didn't go crazy. That really means a lot to me."

Mack nodded and gave Fitz a smile in return. "No problem, Turbo. Good luck tonight." He clapped him on the back and then left Fitz's doorway.

Fitz looked down at the flowers that Mack had picked out. They might have been cheap ones from the closest gas station, but Fitz thought his friend had chosen well.

He checked his watch and decided that it was time to get Jemma.

The walk to Jemma's bunk only took a minute, but as he knocked on the door, he felt a little bit nervous for the first time that night.

"Just a second," Jemma's voice came from inside the room, and a moment later the door opened.

The dress Jemma was wearing was one that Fitz had seen many times, but that didn't make her look any less perfect.

"You look beautiful, Jemma," he said, just slightly breathless at the thought that _he_ was the one accompanying such a gorgeous woman to dinner.

Jemma smiled at him sweetly. "Thanks, Fitz. You look very nice yourself."

Blushing under Jemma's gaze, Fitz lowered his eyes, but then he remembered the object in his hand and held up the bouquet. "These are for you. Mack picked them up actually. Coulson's orders apparently."

Jemma laughed, taking them from him and breathing in their scent. "They're lovely, Fitz, thank you. Or thank Coulson." She grinned and turned to set the flowers back in her room. "It seems like half of S.H.I.E.L.D. wants us to have our date," she added, returning to the hallway and closing the door behind her, "or Coulson does at least."

"Well let's not disappoint them then," Fitz replied, any last bit of nervousness leaving him as he took her hand in his. "Ready to go?"

"Absolutely."

Hand-in-hand the pair headed out of the personal quarters and down to the hanger where the cars were parked in their separate area.

"You know," Jemma said as they approached the nondescript black vehicle that was their ride for the evening, "if Coulson was _really_ invested in our relationship, he would have let us take Lola."

Fitz tried not to focus on the fact that Jemma had referred to whatever this was between them as a "relationship," knowing that he would become extremely distracted if he started dwelling on it. Instead he simply laughed. "The only other person Coulson's ever let drive Lola is Skye, and that's just because he couldn't drive her when he only had one hand. No matter how much Coulson cares, there's no way he'll leave his pride and joy alone with us."

Jemma nodded her agreement, hopping in the passenger seat as Fitz got in and turned the key in the ignition.

"Perhaps if we drop enough hints for next time."

Fitz didn't even try to reply. Simmons was planning for "next time," and this was already easily the best date Fitz had ever been on.

* * *

Skye looked up from the security feed as Fitzsimmons walked through the hanger door, hand-in-hand and smiling.

"They're really doing this." Skye had been having just a bit of trouble wrapping her head around the idea of Fitzsimmons as a couple. It made complete sense, but it was still a lot to process in one day.

"They are," Mack affirmed from across Coulson's office where he, May, Coulson, and Skye had taken up residence to watch Fitz and Simmons head out on their date through the security feeds. "Fitz was happy with the flowers too, chief. Good call on that one."

Coulson smiled slightly as Skye's eyes lit up.

"You had Mack get him flowers for her? That's so sweet!" she cooed at the director who, as expected, rolled his eyes.

"Okay, they've left the compound," May interrupted the additional comments Skye was going to make about how Coulson was really such teddy bear and how such a softy couldn't really be in charge of a secret agency, but maybe it was for the best that she hadn't been allowed to keep talking.

Coulson nodded at May, pretending Skye hadn't said anything, and then turned to Mack. "Let Hunter and Bobbi know they're free to drive in at any time."

Skye smiled at the general atmosphere. "It'll be so great to have the whole gang back together again."

Mack and Coulson nodded their agreement with her statement, and even May smiled.

Skye turned back to her laptop and rewound the security footage to see Fitz and Simmons walking through the hanger doors. Their smiles spoke for everyone. Just for today, everything was perfect.


	4. Stop Time Right Here in the Moonlight

_A/N: Thank you guys so much for your lovely reviews and for following and favoriting. You all are the best, and it seriously means the world to me that you guys are enjoying this._

 _There's nothing I love more than teasing Fitzsimmons banter, so there's a lot of that in this one, but there's also a lot of deep meaningful discussion, which is just as important. But, this really is, more than anything, just a very happy, sweet, "one perfect day" sort of fic, so nothing stays too sad for very long._

 _The chapter title comes from "Sad Song" by We The Kings._

* * *

"So, this place is a little further than some of the others, but it got great reviews online when I checked it out back before…" Fitz trailed off as he turned down the main street of the nearest decent sized town. He knew they would have to discuss the past four months eventually, but he didn't want to have the conversation before they had even gotten to the restaurant.

He glanced over at Jemma next to him. She seemed pensive rather than happy and carefree as she had been since they left the hanger.

Fitz was about to apologize, but then Jemma spoke. "You mean that you still remembered the restaurants that you looked up for our date four months ago?"

Fitz smiled sheepishly. "Well, I kept the list." He pulled it out of his pocket for emphasis, the restaurant they were heading to circled in red. "I hoped that I'd get to use someday, and, well, here we are." He shrugged to say it was no big deal.

Jemma reached over and grabbed his hand, and he turned to look at her as much as he could while driving. She was smiling widely, a look in her eyes that Fitz couldn't quite place. It was similar to the expression that often accompanied an exasperated "oh Fitz," but there was something more to this one that Fitz hadn't seen before.

Before Fitz could really dwell on Jemma's expression, he spotted their, so he pulled in to a small parking lot that was situated next to a little Italian bistro.

He parked the car, and then got out and went around to take Jemma's hand. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving," he said grinning.

Jemma laughed. "But when are you not starving?"

Fitz just shook his head in response, deciding not to add that this was the first time he had really had an appetite in nearly four months.

"Reservation for Fitz," Fitz said smoothly to the hostess as they walked inside. Jemma had been examining the restaurant's décor, but at Fitz's words, she looked up, surprised.

"Ah, yes, party of two," the hostess replied genially. "If you would follow me, please."

The woman guided them to a cozy table in one of the corners of the small room next door. "A server will be with you shortly," the woman said, handing them menus before returning to her hostess stand.

Jemma was still looking at Fitz curiously. "You made reservations?"

Fitz stared back, his eyebrows raised. "You sound so shocked, Simmons," her last name rolling off his tongue as he joked with her, everything seeming completely natural and familiar. "I _am_ capable of planning ahead."

It was Jemma's turn to look sheepish. "I just meant that I hadn't realized you called before, not that you weren't capable…"

She trailed off as Fitz started laughing.

Before Simmons could make an exasperated comment at his expense, their waiter arrived to take their drink orders, and Fitz grinned at the timing. Simmons would never dare be mean to him with an audience. He smirked at his companion behind the waiter's back, but she just rolled her eyes at Fitz when the waiter turned to ask for his selection.

As the man left their table, Fitz and Simmons both burst into laughter, despite the fact that nothing was especially funny.

Their laughter subsided into comfortable silence as they stared at each other, small smiles on both of their faces as if placed there permanently. "I definitely didn't expect to be doing this today," Fitz said after a moment, shaking his head in disbelief.

Jemma reached out and took his hand. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

Fitz could tell that she meant it.

"We should look at the menus, you know," she said after a moment, laughter in her eyes. "I thought you were 'starving.'"

"I'd rather look at you than a silly menu," Fitz said quietly, but he opened his up anyway, peeking over the top to spot Simmons blushing across the table.

The waiter returned with their drinks a minute later, and Jemma ordered Spaghetti Bolognese, much to Fitz's annoyance as he had been planning on ordering it as well.

"I'll have the same," Fitz said as Jemma smirked at him from across the table.

"Copying me now, Fitz?" Jemma said smugly as the waiter left. "Where's the originality?"

Fitz had to work very hard not to smile at his best friend. Her complacency and her self-satisfied grin made him simultaneously want to swat at her arm and kiss her senseless. She had no right to be that adorable. Instead, he simply raised his eyebrows at her. "Well, they say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery."

Jemma stared at him a moment, her eyes softening and her smug smile turning into a genuine one. She leaned across the table and pressed her lips softly to his.

Pulling back, she smiled almost to herself. "I like being able to do that whenever I want."

Fitz just nodded stupidly, a grin spreading across his face.

Jemma just smiled back at him until she finally took a deep breath and sat back. "Okay, tell me about what I missed. Skye and Lincoln filled me in on the Inhuman missions, but I don't know much about anything else. How's May? She seems… different." Jemma stopped for a moment, thinking. "Good different though."

"Definitely good different," Fitz agreed and he started telling her about May's time away and how Dr. Garner was spending a lot more time on base.

And from there things moved naturally. The conversation turned to Skye and how she was as a team leader – Fitz saying she was a natural at it and that Coulson was extremely proud of her – and then to Lincoln, who Fitz said he liked.

"But did you notice anything, uh, _between_ him and Skye?" Fitz asked, trying to get Jemma to catch his meaning. "I think Lincoln has, you know, a _thing_ for Skye."

Jemma laughed. "A _thing_ for Skye? I remember not too terribly long ago someone else had a _thing_ for Skye." She looked at Fitz pointedly, her eyebrows raised.

Fitz ducked his head and shrank back in his seat. "That was a very long time ago, and we don't need to discuss it," he said rapidly, his voice monotone.

Jemma laughed again, harder this time. "You make it so easy, Fitz!"

"Make _what_ easy?" Fitz asked, flustered.

"For me to get you all worked up over things," Jemma replied, grinning widely. "It's quite enjoyable."

"Glad to hear that me being uncomfortable brings you enjoyment," Fitz grumbled to himself.

Jemma leaned across the table and pecked his cheek affectionately. "You wouldn't want it any other way." She shook her head and then turned back to the matter at hand. "But Skye and Lincoln. I can't say I've really noticed anything, though I have really only spent a few hours with the pair of them, and that's not enough to base an opinion on."

Fitz nodded, glad that he was out from under Jemma's microscope. "I don't think Skye's really noticed either, but Lincoln's always volunteering to go on missions with her, and I don't think he really likes S.H.I.E.L.D. that much, but he sticks around for her. He brings her food after training sessions too, stuff like that. But I don't know." He shrugged helplessly. "I'm not too good at this sort of thing."

Jemma smiled at him thoughtfully. "I really wouldn't be surprised if you're right. I'll keep an eye out and maybe bring it up with Skye. At any rate, it'll be something to throw back at her when she tries to tease me about you, which I'm certain is going to happen sooner rather than later."

"What's the betting she's sitting waiting for us in the hanger when we get back?" Fitz asked, rolling his eyes.

"It's going to be a nightmare," Jemma agreed, shaking her head. "At least she means well."

Fitz smiled slightly, thinking of all those nights that Skye stayed up late with him, sometimes working, sometimes talking, often just being with him in silence. Skye knew better than almost anyone how much Jemma meant to him. "Yeah, she does.

Then Jemma asked after Hunter and Bobbi, and Fitz was able to report that both of their friends were doing well and were called in to consult every few weeks, partly to make use of their expertise, but, more than anything, just to have an excuse to get the gang back together. Hunter had actually come along on one of the very first missions to find Jemma, one that put them in a less-stable region that would have required back-up had they actually been required to spend more than ten minutes there scanning, but Fitz decided not to mention that fact since he and Jemma were both avoiding the subject of Jemma's absence. Instead he just added that the last time he saw Hunter and Bobbi was a month before, but that he wouldn't be surprised if they stopped by base sometime in the next week or so (of course that was an outright lie, since he knew for a fact that Hunter and Bobbi were en route to the Playground as he spoke, but Fitz didn't feel bad about that).

Eventually, Jemma had asked, slightly hesitantly, about the lab, and Fitz told her about several of his interactions, most of them more recent, with members of the S.H.I.E.L.D. science division and what they were working on, since Fitz himself had done nothing besides look for Jemma and offer some comments and recommendations to other scientists and to his friends in the past four months.

"And one of the scientists comes up to me with this gun," Fitz said, recounting to Jemma his run in with an, in his opinion, under-qualified S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist from earlier that day, "and it took me a minute to even realize it was one of our ICERs because he'd made the barrel of the prototype so big without adjusting anything else, just to make it 'more powerful'-"

"but the balance-"

"-would be completely off. Exactly what I said." Fitz smiled slightly at the fact that Jemma understood his concern so immediately. "I don't know what kind of idiots S.H.I.E.L.D. is employing nowadays. They're all into power this and power that. I think it's the Inhumans." He sighed. "We've got a couple with 'super-strength,'" he put air quotes around the phrase, "as everyone says, which isn't really what it is, of course, but it's easier than going into the details. But I think it's given the science division, at least, some new idea that everything _has_ to be stronger. It's maddening."

"Have you gotten to know any of the new Inhumans?"

Fitz shook his head. "I've spent time with some of them on missions, but not really. I like Lincoln okay, like I said, but I don't know too much about the others. They've all seemed kind of wary of me these past four months. I guess lurking around a room with a giant monolith that's supposed to be dangerous to Inhumans wouldn't make me the most approachable person." He laughed slightly. "All our friends were really supportive, but everyone else who was at base and knew us backed off a lot and stayed away unless they had new information, and then the newest people who'd never met you all kind of thought I was crazy and tiptoed around me like something bad was going to happen if they hung around too long." Fitz shook his head. "Skye tried to help out though. One day I heard one of the other Inhumans ask her about me and she just said that I was the best friend in the world and that they should all try to get along with me because if something bad ever happened, I was the one who she would want trying to save her life."

"Well, I definitely agree with that one," Jemma said, smiling softly.

Fitz raised his eyebrows. "You better not be thinking about getting in any more trouble, Jemma Simmons. That's not allowed."

Now it was Jemma's turn to look incredulous. "Not allowed? Since when are you in charge of that?"

"Since we found you in a cave after you were missing for four months," Fitz said without thinking, bringing them crashing from joking banter to serious conversation in one breath.

Thankfully, their food arrived at almost that exact moment, interrupting the tense silence that was stretching between them.

"It looks wonderful," Jemma said once their waiter had left again, her words sounding very forced. "You still starving, Fitz?" she tried to joke, though there was an edge to her voice that was more cautious and less teasing.

Fitz decided to ignore the strained atmosphere for the present moment and focus on the fact that he was here with Jemma in a nice restaurant about to eat good food. They could worry about the past later.

"I am, rather," Fitz replied almost casually. He took a bite and groaned comically, trying to get Jemma to smile again. "This is amazing, Jemma. Go on, try yours."

Jemma still seemed unsure about where they had left things, but she smiled nonetheless and picked up her fork to take a bite as well. Instantly her smile grew wider. "This is _amazing_ , Fitz," she said, almost sighing with contentment. "You're lucky I'm so good at ordering so you can copy me and get such good food."

Fitz raised his eyebrows, his fork frozen in midair halfway to his mouth. "Well excuse me, Jemma," he said, his tone teasing, "I think I deserve most of the credit here since I picked the restaurant."

"Maybe the rest of the food here's terrible, and I just happened to select the only decent item on the menu," Jemma countered, her eyes glinting at him.

"I'd say the odds of that are…"

And on it went from there. Their playful bickering soon turned to reminiscing about their days at the Academy and Sci-Ops, reviving old arguments that hadn't seen the light of day in years and had long stopped being serious.

Forty minutes later found them laughing across an empty table, the dishes that had previously held their SpagBol having been cleared away long ago. Fitz had eaten his at an alarming rate and then finished off the last bits of Jemma's, much to her feigned offense and genuine amusement.

Fitz was doing his best impression of Coulson from his first days with his new hand, which Jemma found very entertaining.

"Fitz, Fitz, look at this! I can't even move my pinky!" Fitz said in a slightly mocking approximation of their director's voice.

"But then I tapped it, and it moved just fine," Fitz continued, rolling his eyes. "Coulson's great, but he's such a drama queen."

Jemma laughed and nodded in agreement. "He really is; though, in his defense, losing a hand without warning is bound to be a bit jarring."

Fitz shrugged slightly. "I suppose, but this was a full month after the fact, and three days after Mack fixed him up with the hand." Fitz thought for a moment, and then sighed. "I think he made a bigger deal out of it than it was to keep me distracted. If I was paying attention to his hand then I wasn't thinking about the stone."

Jemma's eyes dropped from his, and neither of them spoke.

They had been dodging the subject all evening – the closest they'd come to it being Fitz's comment just before their food arrived – treating the reason why Jemma didn't know about the rest of the team almost as her having taken a four month vacation rather than that her having been swallowed by an alien rock, but Fitz knew that it was getting late and they had to have this discussion sometime. Now seemed as good a time as any.

"I saw a park down the street when we drove in," Jemma said finally, "do you want to go there and talk about… everything." She glanced up at him. "I'd rather do it where I can sit beside you instead of across a table."

Fitz nodded, glad that Jemma was still up for having this conversation. After the months of them barely speaking to each other when Jemma returned from her stint at Hydra the previous year, it was wonderful to finally have this openness between them. "Let me just ask for the bill."

"I'm not letting you pay," Jemma argued, as he knew she would.

Fitz rolled his eyes. "This is our first real date, and you've been missing for four months. I'm paying for you, end of discussion."

Jemma sat back in her chair, defeated, but a small smile played on her lips.

As it turned out, their fight had been pointless.

"Yes, your bill has already been taken care of," their waiter informed them after Fitz asked. "Have a wonderful evening."

Fitz and Jemma looked at each other as the waiter moved away from their table.

"Coulson?" Jemma asked.

"Coulson," Fitz agreed, grinning. "The man thinks of everything!"

"And to think, we've been sitting here making fun of him," Jemma said regretfully.

"Sorry, Coulson," Fitz said to the ceiling as though the director was listening in on their conversation.

Jemma sighed. "You ready?"

Fitz stood and took her hand as she got to her feet. "Course."

Fitz drove the car from the small parking lot and down a couple blocks to the park Simmons had spotted earlier. He parked the car on the side of the road, and they got out and walked in through a small wrought-iron gate on the corner, Jemma's hand securely in his.

The pair walked in silence for a few minutes, their feet taking them down a path toward a gazebo and a small pond, the end of a gorgeous sunset coloring the sky above them with pinks and purples. A few children ran around a play structure by a pavilion in the opposition direction as a few adults, most likely the kids' parents, talked by a picnic table, but aside from that small group, the park was deserted.

Fitz sighed finally. "So what should we start with? The stone? Or should we go back to the med pod?" If they were actually going to do this, he might as well put it all on the line.

Jemma nudged him over to a wooden bench along the side of the path, a stretch of grass in front of them with the pond just beyond it. "Let's go to the beginning then. Med pod."

Fitz nodded resolutely. "Okay, med pod." He paused for a moment, not sure how to start exactly. "Well, I guess I'll say I'm sorry."

Jemma looked at him sharply as though unsure exactly what he meant.

"For kind of springing the whole "you're more than that" thing on you a second before I broke the glass and flooded the pod," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Jemma raised her eyebrows. " _Kind of_ springing it on me? _Kind of_?" She laughed mirthlessly. "Fitz, that came out of nowhere for me. What did you expect me to say?"

"Nothing, honestly, nothing," Fitz answered quickly. "I thought I was going to die, and I just had to tell you why I needed you to live."

Jemma didn't reply for a moment. "Did it ever occur to you that I needed you to live too?"

"It was the only way out, Jemma," Fitz said, not looking at her.

"But it wasn't worth what it did to you, Fitz," Jemma fired back. "I sat next to you for nine days while you were in a coma, and all I could do was try to think of what I should have done instead of let you sacrifice yourself for me. Skye and Trip did anything to try to distract me, but I just needed my best friend to be okay."

"But I wasn't okay," Fitz said quietly. "Really I wasn't even the same best friend."

Jemma took a deep breath. "I was just glad you were alive, Fitz. It didn't matter that you weren't the same. That hurt, but it was okay because at least you were still with me."

"Didn't seem like it was okay when you left," Fitz said before he could stop himself. He knew that this was something they needed to talk about, but this was _not_ how he had wanted to breach the subject. "I'm sorry, Jemma, I didn't mean-"

"Yes you did," Jemma interrupted. "And I never actually talked to you about why I left, so you have every reason to be angry with me." She sighed again. "But I didn't leave because you were too different or because I gave up on you. I left _for_ you. So you could get better."

Fitz stared at her. This was new. "What?"

Jemma nodded hurriedly. "You kept turning to me to finish your sentences, and sometimes I could do it, but a lot of the time I couldn't. After the med pod, it was like we weren't on the same page anymore. I didn't know what you were thinking, and you needed me to know. You were so dependent on me understanding you exactly how I understood you before, and I didn't. And even if I had known, it wasn't good for you to have me there giving you all answers because it hurt me so much to see you struggle." Jemma sniffled, and Fitz realized she had started crying. "So I left so you could get better on your own. So you could figure it all out without us trying to act like nothing had ever happened." She inhaled and wiped the tears from her eyes, trying to force her lips into a smile. "And it worked, didn't it? When I got back you had some new friends to help you out who weren't there comparing everything to how things were before, even unconsciously. Mack said that in all the time he'd known you, he thought I was the only one to make you worse, and he was right, Fitz. Up until we started working together again in Puerto Rico, you were better when I wasn't around."

Fitz ran his hands through his hair. How could he have been so stupid? And how could Jemma possibly think that he had been better without her? "But you're wrong, Jemma." He paused. "I mean maybe not about everything. When you got back, we never talked, and I just thought that maybe if I tried harder to be the person I used to be, things would go back to normal, and we'd be back to being best friends again, but that wasn't really possible, so it just seemed like I was getting worse. But that doesn't make it your fault or mean I was better without you." He took a deep breath. "Because I was lost without you, Jemma. I stopped even trying to talk to Skye or May or Coulson after you left. I just stayed by myself because I thought that you'd given up on me, and if you had given up on me then what was the point? I didn't want to work to get better if I didn't have you with me. And there's even more than that." Fitz thought back to those months that Jemma had been away at Hydra. "I saw you, when you were gone that first time. You stayed with me and talked to me and gave me advice."

"You mean you hallucinated-"

"Not exactly," Fitz interrupted. "It was just my subconscious. Everyone thought I was talking to myself, but I was talking to you. You'd finish my sentences, and you encouraged me to go talk to Mack and Hunter. And you-" Fitz stopped again, fighting back tears. "You told me to move on because you were gone, because you left me." He wiped at his eyes. "And so when you got back, I'd been so used to you finishing my sentences in my head that when you couldn't in person, I just got so frustrated. Mack and Hunter, they didn't know how smart I was. They knew this different, broken me and that was easier."

"You weren't broken, Fitz," Jemma cut in, placing her hand on his arm, her eyes serious. "You were just different, and, you're right, it was hard to deal with at first. You weren't my same best friend anymore." She stared at him hopefully. "But that didn't matter, that _doesn't_ matter. Those months didn't make you less than you were before, they made you stronger, I think, more independent, which I think was something both of us maybe needed." She offered him a small smile. "I'm so proud of you, Fitz. And I'm sorry for leaving and for not explaining things. It just hurt so much." She shook her head, tears still on her cheeks. "It was so stupid of me not to say something before. Everything was just…"

Fitz wrapped his arms around Jemma, letting her sob quietly into his shirt, his tears dripping down into her hair. "It's okay, Jemma," he said softly, his hands running up and down her back comfortingly, trying to make sure she understood that he didn't blame her for anything, that he could never blame her for anything.

He could feel Jemma's sobs lessening beneath his arms and he pulled back slightly so she could wipe away her tears. "Sorry," she said, her voice almost laughing. "I'm such a mess, and I've cried all over your shirt!" She ran her hands over the damp fabric.

Fitz pushed her hair back and let his hand run down her cheek. "Don't worry about it, Jemma. I don't mind."

Jemma reached up and took his hand in hers, bringing it down to rest between them. They sat there together a moment, Fitz's other hand resting on Jemma's waist, the twilight reflecting off the pond across from them.

"I'm sorry for not telling you about Skye," Fitz said suddenly, wanting to get the weight of this other conflict off his chest. "I should have trusted you because you care about Skye as much as I do, and I know you'd never do anything to hurt her. Science is supposed to be sacred for us, and I ignored that, and you didn't deserve it, Jemma, and I'm just… I'm sorry." He looked at Jemma for a reaction, but she was staring off at the pond.

Finally she sighed. "Thank you, Fitz. That means a lot." She turned back to him, a small smile on her face. "I understand why you did what you did, and while I still think it was wrong, I know that you were only trying to do what you thought was best for Skye, and I can respect that. Just don't mess with any of my blood samples ever again." Her words were serious, but the teasing glint that had been in her eyes for most of dinner had returned.

Fitz fought back a smile as he held up his hands in surrender. "Never again, Jemma Simmons. I promise."

"Good," she paused, a smile creeping onto her face, "Leopold Fitz."

Fitz raised his eyebrows at the use of his first name, and then, remembering something, his eyes narrowed. "You called me Leo a few days after everything with Skye. You called me _Leo_ in front of _everyone_."

Jemma looked sheepish. "I was cross with you. I felt you deserved it."

"It was weird," Fitz reflected, "you not calling me Fitz. I didn't like it."

Jemma folded her arms. "Well, it seems you've abandoned calling me Simmons, so I don't see the problem."

Fitz grew defensive. "Yeah, well Jemma's such a beautiful name. And, more than that, it's normal. I've got bloody Leopold! What kind of parent names their infant son Leopold?"

Jemma laughed at that, throwing her head back, the beautiful sound filling the previously tense air around them. "I've never seen what's so bad about Leo. It's cute."

" _Monkeys_ are cute, Simmons," Fitz answered automatically.

"Leos are pretty cure too, or at least the one I know." Jemma quickly leaned in and kissed Fitz, though for not nearly as long as he would have preferred.

Fitz tried to follow her lips, wanting nothing more than to kiss her again and really maybe never stop kissing her, but Jemma just shook her head, that sad look back in her eyes. "We still have a lot to talk about."

Fitz knew she was right, but that didn't make him any happier with the situation. He sat back on the bench, holding back a sigh.

"I think it's my turn to go first," Jemma said. "About what I said in the locker room before you left to go fight the Inhumans."

Fitz nodded slowly. "Okay."

Jemma took a deep breath, clearly getting her thoughts together. "When I first got back from Hydra and things were weird between us, I ended up talking about it to Bobbi and she said that her relationships have always been like rollercoasters with loops and turns and stopping and starting and I asked her if the ride was worth it, and she said she'd let me know. But then you and I weren't even friends again, so none of it mattered. Every so often I thought that maybe there was something, but then you'd go back to the garage or something would happen and we'd be back where we were before. That is until the coup." Jemma paused, the memory of that day clearly in her head. "Then you were back beside me, and we were Fitzsimmons again, fighting to keep our little family together, and everything was so confusing, but I was so grateful just to have you back, even though you had to leave. But then Bobbi got hurt and Hunter wouldn't leave her side and it reminded me of those days I stayed with you when you were in your coma, and then you were about to go and I knew I had to say something." She smiled slightly at her feet. "I guess I do sort of understand why you said what you said in the med pod. I needed you to know that it wasn't just you. I needed you to come back to me." Her eyes stayed locked on the ground.

Fitz had never been more in love with Jemma Simmons than he was at that moment. He reached out and brushed a strand of behind her ear.

Jemma looked up at him. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner."

Fitz shook his head. "Doesn't matter anymore. We're here now aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are." When Jemma leaned in to kiss him this time, she stayed there, not pulling back as Fitz pressed her to him, kissing her with everything he had.

"I love you, Jemma," he breathed out between kisses, his words involuntary, but nonetheless true.

Jemma froze in his arms, and Fitz realized what he had just said.

He pulled back frantically, his eyes locked on Jemma's as he tried to explain himself. "I didn't mean to say that. Um, it just, uh, slipped out. It doesn't have to-"

"Fitz, stop," Jemma said, reaching out a hand to quiet him.

Fitz stared at her and found, to his confusion, that she was smiling.

Jemma cupped his cheek with her hand. "I love you too, Fitz."

"You- you do?" Fitz asked helplessly.

Jemma stared at him with that same look she had had in the car when he had shown her the list of restaurants that he'd kept. "Of course I do, Fitz. I thought that was implied."

Fitz finally understood what that expression was. It was love, pure and simple. Jemma Simmons loved him, and he loved her back.

A wide grin spread across Fitz's face as he stood up, taking Jemma's hand and pulling her up with him. He picked her up and spun her around like he had in the airplane hanger. "I love you, I love you, I love you." He put her down and kissed her again, over and over, across her forehead, down her neck, back to her lips, telling her between each one that he loved her, that he would always love her.

Jemma laughed as she pulled him in for a hug, her head resting lightly on his shoulder. "And I love you even more."

Fitz pulled back at that, eyebrows raised. "Oh really? That cannot be true. Because there is no way _anyone_ can love _anyone_ more than I love you."

Jemma grinned at him, a competitive glint in her eyes. "Well, I think that's impossible, because I just spent four months in a weird stasis chamber in a cave where I spent pretty much the entire time thinking about how much I love you."

Fitz froze at the casual mention of what Simmons had been through, the first real detail that she had shared with Fitz or with anyone.

Jemma sucked in a breath. "Do you want to hear about it?"

"Only if you want to talk," Fitz replied immediately.

Jemma nodded. "I do." She gestured back to the bench. "At any rate, I'll have to tell Coulson about it soon enough, and I'd rather talk the whole thing through with you first anyway."

Fitz let her sit down first, and then he followed, lacing his fingers through hers in a show of support. The moon had begun to rise over the pond, illuminating the rapidly darkening landscape.

Jemma took a deep breath. "I know you saw what happened on the security footage, so I can skip through that-"

"Actually," Fitz interrupted. "I want to apologize for messing with the lock. I don't know how the door got completely open, but I definitely did something when I was asking you to dinner."

Jemma smiled at him softly. "I don't really think anything you did made much of a difference. It was like the stone _wanted_ the case to open. I still don't understand that." She furrowed her brow. "But anyway, it opened and sucked me inside, but then I wasn't inside."

"You got transported to the cave, you mean," Fitz asked for clarification, but Jemma shook her head.

"I mean, I might have been," she corrected herself after a moment, "but I didn't even know I was in a cave until Skye knocked in the wall which I'm guessing disrupted the stasis chamber. Lincoln mentioned that there was some sort of energy field there, but that Skye breaking the wall released it."

Fitz nodded, following along.

"For me though, I felt like I was floating in space, _literally_ space," she emphasized. "I could see starts and planets and another world, but there was no one there. There were just more stones like the one that had sucked me in, but they were covered with writing. I could probably write some of it down, I saw it for so long." Jemma's eyes were bright, filled with a desire to know more. "But there was this wall of mist that reminded me of what Skye said about the mist that killed Trip, and so I tried to stay away from it, but I couldn't control where I was going, so I floated through it, but behind the mist, it was just the same, and that happened over and over again. Nothing changed, and it really didn't feel like time was passing at all. The only reason I noticed that it had been a long time was how much I thought about you."

Jemma paused, smiling slightly. "That was all I did really after I took in my surroundings and tried to move and passed through the mist a couple times. There didn't seem to be anything I could do to help myself, so I focused on you. I went through how we became friends, all the best moments from the Academy, our days impressing superiors at Sci-Ops, me convincing you to try to go out in the field, those first happier days on the Bus, all the way up to you asking if I wanted to go to dinner. I just played these past ten years in my head on a loop, and I just knew that I loved you. That'd I'd loved you for a long time. Longer than I'd realized before." She looked up at him. "But every so often I'd have the thought that I had been passing through the mist in thatplacefor a _very_ long time, and how was I ever going to get back to you because we had a date, but I couldn't move, and even if I could have moved, there was nowhere for me to go to." Jemma stopped, sighing.

Fitz didn't know what to say.

"I think it would have killed me if I was Inhuman, that mist," she said after a moment. "That was the only thing I really figured out. It was like the stone had transported me to a spot on what I'm assuming was the Kree world that was designed to get rid of the Inhumans. Lincoln did tell us that the teleporter said the stone was dangerous to them. It was like this place was set up to kill any Inhumans that came in contact with the rock-"

"-so they would drift through the mist and their bodies would turn to stone and disintegrate in one of those caves where we found you-"

"-except I'm not Inhuman, so it just served as a stasis chamber until Skye disrupted it."

"Wow," Fitz said simply. "The Kree really are serious about getting rid of the Inhumans."

Jemma stared at the ground. "We need to lock that thing up so Skye and Lincoln and the rest of their team never have to go near it. I can't even think about what would happen to them if…" she trailed off.

Fitz furrowed his brow. "Right after the rock took you, Skye went right up to it to try to sense you inside it. She didn't touch it or anything, but she was closer to it than you ever were. I wonder why it didn't take her then."

"Maybe if can only handle one person at a time," Jemma suggested, deep in thought, but then she looked up suddenly as though just realizing what Fitz had said. "Wait, Skye went right up to it? Why would she do something so dangerous?"

Fitz stared at her as though she were crazy. "Because she wanted to get you back, Jemma. We would have done anything to bring you home."

Jemma turned to him, a question on her lips, but her words were hesitant. "Did you, while I was gone, did you see-"

"You mean did I talk to you through my subconscious again?" Fitz asked, amused by how uncomfortable Jemma was with the question.

She smiled sheepishly. "Yes, that's what I meant."

Fitz shook his head. "No, Coulson wouldn't let me by myself for at least a month, and even then he made sure Mack or Skye or someone dropped by fairly regularly to make sure I was okay."

Jemma sat back on the bench, clearly relieved. "Good. Skye said it wasn't like last time, and I'm glad she was right."

Fitz half smiled at her. "You know I stopped seeing you even before you came back that first time, once I got closer with Mack and Hunter. And it's not like I ever really thought it was you, I knew it was my subconscious, but it was nice to pretend sometimes. It was much easier to talk to that version of you than to anyone else."

Jemma's eyes were sad. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Fitz."

Fitz took her free hand in his. "It's okay. You were trying to help, and maybe you did. We'll never really know. But we're here now, aren't we?" he said echoing his words from earlier.

Jemma nodded. "We're here now."

They stared at each other for a few moments before Jemma dropped his gaze, clearly not quite finished with the topic. "So Coulson looked out for you."

Fitz nodded. "I think it was easier for everyone to deal with me this time because they at least understood what I was going through. When the problem's all in your head, it's hard for people to relate, but this was physical; we all lost you, so they knew how I felt. Well not exactly how I felt," he amended his statement, "but they understood." He frowned slightly. "They all handled it better than I did though. These first few weeks were the worst for everyone, but the past few weeks have been really hard too. After a week or two of unsuccessful missions, everything was looking kind of hopeless, but Coulson let us keep going, I think mostly because he didn't know how to tell me it was over." Fitz shook his head, tears in his eyes. "But I…"

Jemma squeezed his hand, trying to comfort him.

Fitz took a deep breath and then let everything go. "Everyone else was close to giving up because they knew they could get through it. They were all so upset at the beginning, but they had survived and they knew that they would continue to survive even if you weren't there. Skye was broken for those first few weeks. She was trying to hide it from me, but she wasn't the only one looking for hidden spaces to cry at the base. And I haven't seen Coulson really smile since that day. And then May tried to stay tough and unemotional, like she always is, but every so often I'd see her go hug Andrew, and she'd rest her head on his shoulders like she was holding up the world. But they kept going. Skye worked with the Inhumans. Coulson ran the base. May led missions and surveyed things from her position on the board. They were surviving, not exactly moving on, but something close to that."

"But I couldn't do it." Fitz choked back a sob. "It wasn't as bad as when you left before; I still talked to everyone and, like I said, no almost-hallucinations, but I didn't do anything for S.H.I.E.L.D.; all I did was look for you. That's all I _could_ do. Everyone else would have been able to keep going if you had been gone forever, they wouldn't have been happy about it, but they could have done it if absolutely necessary. But I couldn't, Jemma. I can't. You're all I have. I just… I didn't know what to do without you. I told you earlier that sometimes I felt like I had to give up because it was so hopeless, but then I'd think about what my life would be like if you weren't in it, and I couldn't even picture it; it didn't exist. So I knew I could never stop looking. After every mission, I could see Coulson trying to figure out how many more he was going to let me run before he shut everything down. I know he didn't want to, but it's what made sense. I'd try to figure out what I was going to do if Coulson wouldn't let me work through S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore, and my only conclusion was that I would have to leave, find you myself because there's no point in me working here if you aren't by my side. There's no point in anything without you. This is it for me, Jemma," Fitz said, pouring out months worth of revelations to the most important person in his entire world. "You're it. I love you. I love you so much it hurts, and I just need you with me. Nothing makes sense otherwise."

Jemma was silent for a moment. "So does that mean you'll officially come back and work with me in the lab?" she asked.

Fitz stared at her, his mouth falling open. " _That's_ what you took from my big speech?" he almost yelled at the amazing, but infuriating, woman next to him. "I go through all that, and you ask me about the bloody lab?"

Jemma nodded at him patiently. "I'll address the rest of it in a moment, I just wanted to be sure."

Fitz sighed exasperatedly, sitting back on the bench. "Yes, I'll come back to work with you. I pretty much had already before, you know."

Simmons smiled at him widely. "I know, but it wasn't official. I just needed to be sure."

She took a breath and then, without warning, her mouth crashed into his, her arms pressing him to her before Fitz could even respond. After a second, Fitz was able to move, his arms snaking around Jemma's back and his lips moving against hers. Jemma moved her head and her mouth found the base of his neck, Fitz trying and failing to resist letting out a soft moan. "God, Jemma."

She moved her mouth back up to meet his. "I love you so much, Leopold Fitz," she said softly, her breath dusting across his lips.

Fitz opened his eyes to see meet Jemma's. "I love you too, Jemma. So much."

Jemma smiled at him, pressing one last kiss to his lips before leaning her forehead against his.

Fitz couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, but then he realized something. He pulled back slightly. "I've done all this complaining about how awful things were for me, but at least I knew where I was and I had Coulson and Mack and Skye and May. I can't even imagine how weird and confusing this must have been for you."

Jemma shrugged. "Something about the whole floating through space thing makes you kind of forget about how weird and confusing it is. It hurt to think about you, but besides that, it was pretty fascinating. I don't think any other human being has seen what I saw there. Scientifically, it was a one in a lifetime opportunity."

Fitz had to laugh out loud at that.

"What?" Jemma asked, slightly affronted.

Fitz shook his head. "Only you would call getting sucked inside an alien rock and trapped in a stasis chamber in a cave a 'one in a lifetime opportunity.'" He grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't make fun of me, _Leo_."

Fitz's smile fell from his face immediately. "What did I say about calling me Leo?"

Jemma smiled at him innocently.

Fitz moved to kiss her again, but he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

He sighed exasperatedly as he pulled back to check it, Jemma laughing next to him.

 _Op WH is in place. Return to base at your leisure. –C_

Fitz checked the time. 8:30. He sighed again and looked up at Jemma. "That's Coulson. We should probably head back to base."

Jemma looked at her own watch and nodded, standing up and looking around. "I hadn't even noticed how dark it is. I can barely see you."

"We have been here a while haven't we?" He turned to start walking back to where they had parked, Jemma's hand still in his. "Moon's beautiful tonight though."

Jemma nodded her agreement, her head resting his arm as they walked. "This was lovely, Fitz. Thank you. Definitely worth the wait."

Fitz pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "There's still time for me to mess it up, don't worry."

How had it taken him so many years to notice that Simmons had the most beautiful laugh in the entire world? And how had he spent so long not being this perfectly happy?


	5. Operation Welcome Home

_A/N: Sorry this chapter took a bit. The editing ended up being more complicated than I had anticipated and life has started to get busier. Just one chapter to go now, and it's significantly shorter than the others, so it shouldn't be too long._

 _Thank you guys so much for reading, favoriting, and especially reviewing. It seriously means the world to me, and you guys are so amazing for taking the time to do all that._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Fitz and Jemma didn't speak on the ride home, but their hands were locked together on the console and that was enough for Fitz.

As they grew closer to the Playground, he began to get excited, knowing what was waiting for them back at base and hoping that Simmons would like it too. Operation Welcome Home had been the product of a sad night's conversation with Skye and the rest of the team, but he knew everyone had worked very hard to make sure it was perfect.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Jemma said, pulling him out of his thoughts as they drove into the hanger and he parked the car.

"Like what?" Fitz replied, trying to feign ignorance.

Jemma narrowed her eyes, getting out of the car and meeting him in front of the hood. "Like you have a secret."

Fitz managed a scoff as he took Jemma's hand back in his. "What's _that_ supposed to look like?"

Jemma concentrated for a second as she pulled her mouth into a tight-lipped smile, lifting her eyebrows up higher than normal.

Fitz rolled his eyes, scanning his lanyard to open the door to the rest of the base. "I did not look like that."

"Did too."

"How could you even see my face? It was pitch black in the car."

"I saw it when we pulled into the hanger."

"Sure you did," Fitz said sarcastically with an overly serious head nod. He was intentionally egging Simmons on, distracting her both from the secret he _definitely_ had been smiling about and from the fact that they were not taking the correct route back to her bunk, but rather the hallway that led to the common area.

"You did, Fitz, and you know it!" Simmons continued, completely oblivious as they rounded the last corner. "I'm not part of an actual spy agency for-"

"SURPRISE!"

"nothing." Simmons finished, her eyes widening and her mouth falling open as she took in the lounge in front of her.

A wide banner reading WELCOME BACK AGENT SIMMONS stretched across the room which had been decorated with metal lab tables that Fitz knew were ones salvaged from their lab on the Bus, imitation science equipment to hold forks and knives and napkins (Fitz having strongly objected to Skye's suggestion that they use the real devices), and general Doctor Who paraphernalia all around, in homage to Simmons's favorite television program. The refreshments table in the back was stacked with muffins and scones, and several kettles of tea could be seen warming on the stovetop of the kitchenette. But it was the people there that Fitz could see really caught Jemma's attention. Besides the usual team and the better part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s science division, Hunter and Bobbi stood next to Mack, wide grins on their faces, and even Agent Weaver was surveying the scene from beside Coulson.

"Oh my God," Jemma said, shaking her head, a smile growing larger and larger on her face. After a moment, she turned to Fitz and swatted him on the arm.

"Hey!" he said, confused, rubbing the spot where she had hit him. "What was that for?"

"I knew you had a secret!" she said triumphantly.

Fitz stared at her, trying not to laugh. "Yeah, you're a genius, Jemma, course you figured it out." He smiled as Jemma blushed at the compliment. "Didn't need to hit me though," he added, half-serious.

Jemma ignored him and turned to everyone else. "Thank you all so much. This is... this is amazing."

"We're just glad to have you back," Hunter said, grinning, and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

Fitz hugged Jemma to his side. "Welcome home," he said softly. "Just try not to hurt anyone else," he added, smirking, "I'm not sure if my arm's ever gonna be the same."

Jemma laughed but then kissed him quickly as an apology before running to greet Bobbi and Hunter.

Fitz shook his head, grinning in spite of himself.

Skye quickly approached him, the picture of innocence.

"So Fitz, how was your night?" A horrifically self-satisfied grin appeared on her face, and Fitz ducked his head.

"Shut up, Skye." He tried to turn away from his friend, but she moved in front of him.

"Come on, Fitz," she whined, "tell me all about it! Was it romantic? Were there candles? Did you dance in the moonlight?" She twirled around for dramatic effect.

Fitz stared at his friend blankly.

"Anything, Fitz. Give me anything."

Fitz sighed exasperatedly, though he really did want to tell someone about how wonderful the entire night had been. "Fine. We had dinner at a little Italian place, and then we went to park down the street to talk, and it was really great." He smiled to himself thinking of Simmons saying that it had been worth the wait. "Perfect really."

Skye awwed loudly, and Fitz looked over at her.

"This is why I don't like to tell you things," he said, shaking his head.

Skye huffed, looking like a pouting two-year-old. "Fine, I'll just ask Simmons later. I'm sure she'll tell me more than you."

"I'll tell you more about what?" Simmons asked, coming over to join them, Bobbi, Hunter, and Mack following her. She slid her hand easily into Fitz's as though they had been doing that their entire lives. Fitz tried not to smile too widely.

"More about your date," Skye replied grinning as Simmons blushed, which had clearly been her objective.

"Yeah, I'm definitely gonna need to hear about that too," Bobbi agreed, shooting Fitz a wink. "Congrats you two, by the way," she added. "You guys are really great together."

Hunter nodded at Fitz from behind his ex-wife/girlfriend. "It's true, mate."

Fitz was torn between wanting to thank Hunter and Bobbi for their kind words and wanting to grab Simmons and go back to that park where they hadn't had an audience.

"Tea?" Coulson stepped in to their circle with a mug each for Fitz and Simmons.

Both grabbed the cups, eager for the distraction and for the tea itself.

"Milk and sugar are over there," Coulson nodded to lab table behind the group.

Simmons took Fitz's mug from his hands before he could protest. "I'll get yours for you."

Fitz used Simmons's absence to properly greet Hunter and Bobbi, since he hadn't seen either of them in almost a month.

"Great job, mate," Hunter said genuinely, clapping Fitz on the back as he pulled the younger man in for a hug. "When Bob got the call from Coulson earlier, we were thrilled, just thrilled."

Bobbi nodded, hugging Fitz as well. "I knew you'd never give up on her."

Fitz was brought back to the day Hunter and Bobbi formally left S.H.I.E.L.D. over three months before. The pair had come to find Fitz in the room with the Kree stone to say goodbye and good luck. Hunter had almost cried as he looked down at him, and he had been forced to leave the room. Bobbi had held it together better, giving him a tight hug in spite of the fact that she and Fitz didn't really know each other very well. "If anyone can find her, Fitz, it's you," she had said seriously. "I know you won't give up on her." She had walked to the door, but just before she left, she had turned back to look at him. "She'd have never given up on you either." And then they were gone. Only after he and Jemma's conversation in the park did Fitz fully grasp what Bobbi had meant.

Jemma returned to the circle and passed Fitz his mug of tea. He said a quiet thanks and took a sip, smiling. Jemma always made fun of him for just how much sugar he liked in his tea, but she still always made it for him perfectly. Though he had never said anything, Skye had never quite gotten the amounts right when she brought him mugs late at night on those particularly tough days.

"Those are our old lab tables, aren't they?" Jemma asked him curiously.

Fitz grinned at her. "My idea. They've just been lying around mostly, and I thought it would be fitting."

Jemma stared up at him, a smile growing wider on her face and a million questions behind her eyes, but before she could say anything, they were interrupted.

"Agents Fitz and Simmons." The authoritarian figure of Agent Weaver came over to join them.

Fitz and Simmons each stood up a little straighter in the presence of their former Academy instructor.

"I would like to personally say welcome back, Agent Simmons," the older woman nodded at Jemma. "I speak for the entire agency when I say that we are extremely grateful to see you here safe and sound."

Jemma beamed. "Thank you Agent Weaver. That really means a lot."

The older woman then turned to Fitz. "Agent Fitz, on behalf of the board, I would like to personally commend you for your efforts in finding Agent Simmons and saving her life. Coulson has informed me in no uncertain terms that Agent Simmons would not be back among us without your tireless efforts, and, for that, the entire agency owes you a debt of gratitude."

"Oh, uh, thank you," Fitz said, flustered. "I- uh, well, it was for Jemma."

Agent Weaver smiled, looking more like the instructor she used to be and less like the head of the S.H.I.E.L.D. executive board that she was now. "Partnerships like yours and Simmons's are very rare. I can see why you'd go so far to hold onto one."

Fitz's free hand found Simmons's and they smiled at each other.

Agent Weaver gave them one final knowing glance before turning to Coulson. "I should really be getting back."

Coulson nodded. "I'll walk you out."

The pair exited, and Fitz took another sip of his tea.

Jemma was talking to Hunter and Bobbi about life outside S.H.I.E.L.D. while Mack kept throwing in casual suggestions that they come back, even if Bobbi still wasn't 100%. Skye had started talking to Lincoln, and they were both casting furtive glances at May over in a corner where she stood laughing with Andrew. Scattered all around the room were random groups of agents and scientists talking and smiling. Fitz hadn't seen the base look this happy since, well, ever.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Jemma said softly, a warm smile on her face as her thumb traced circles on his hand.

"I'm just happy," he said, kissing her temple. "Everyone is."

* * *

Coulson walked Agent Weaver and the other two agents that had accompanied her down to the hanger.

"Thanks so much for coming, Anne," Coulson said gratefully. "You really didn't have to."

Agent Weaver turned and offered him a small smile. "Yes, I did. Agent Simmons is one of our most valuable assets, and, more than that, she was one of my favorite students. She and Agent Fitz are very important to S.H.I.E.L.D., and to me."

Coulson returned the smile and the sentiment. "Me too."

He and Agent Weaver shook hands, but before she climbed the ramp to her plane, she looked at Coulson curiously. "How long has their relationship been going on?"

Coulson smiled to himself. "Officially? Since Agent Simmons returned this afternoon."

Agent Weaver raised her eyebrows. "Sure took them long enough."

Coulson nodded his agreement. "It certainly did."

With a final wave, Agent Weaver departed and one of her agents directed the plane out of the hanger and into the air.

Coulson stood in the hanger for a moment, his eyes drawn to the spot where Simmons had been reunited with him and Fitz a few hours previously. Just a few hallways away, most of the base was celebrating, the Playground happier than Coulson had ever seen it. Fitz was pretty much 100% and finally ready to get back to work. Skye had become a fantastic team leader and true force to be reckoned with. May was healing from Bahrain and everything else they had gone through in the past couple years. Simmons was back home, safe and sound.

Coulson was certain that some crisis or other would come to light soon. Someone turned Inhuman, unable to fully grasp or control his powers. Ward and Hydra rearing their ugly heads. The mystery that the Kree monolith continued to be. But even with all the danger, the unwanted possibilities, Coulson knew that everything would be okay. It was little moments like tonight that told him that. As long as they all had each other, they could get through anything.

* * *

Skye was really having the time of her life at Simmons's Welcome Home party. There was good food, and everyone was happy and smiling for the first time in months. Most importantly, though, she'd gotten to tease Fitz and Simmons, who seemed to be even more nauseatingly adorable than they had been before they left for their date earlier in the evening, not that Skye actually had a problem with it. If anyone was allowed to be adorable around each other, it was Fitz and Simmons, separated for four months just after they had agreed to go on a date. If Skye had been a filmmaker, this would have been the romantic comedy that launched her career.

At present, however, her attention was focused on May in the corner talking and laughing with Andrew.

"See, you haven't known her as long as I have," Skye explained to Lincoln who was standing with her, casting furtive glances at Skye's S.O. "Like if I saw this when I first joined the team, I would have thought someone was playing a really clever practical joke. We were lucky to even see May sort of smile, much less laugh. Andrew's really great for her."

Lincoln smiled at her and nudged her arm. "It's really sweet how much you care about her, you know."

Before Skye could reply, Coulson interrupted. "Attention everyone!" he announced loudly, having apparently returned from seeing off Agent Weaver. "Since Agent Simmons was absent for her birthday earlier this month…" he gestured to the doorway where Henry was pushing a large cart with an only slightly smaller cake on top that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIMMONS in blue icing with small, but impressive, illustrations of molecules and DNA strands around it. Numerous brightly glowing candles poked out of the cake's surface.

Fitz looked at Skye first. The cake wasn't news to him, but the decorations had been last minute additions while he and Simmons had been off on their magical evening. Skye was actually one of the only people who knew who was responsible for the frosting. She shook her head at Fitz as though to say "don't look at me," and instead nodded at the previous object of her interest. It seemed hand-to-hand combat wasn't May's only impressive skill.

As Fitz turned to stare at May, his eyes wide and disbelieving, Skye switched her focus to the smaller scientist beside him, the sight instantly making Skye smile.

Someone had flicked the light switch, so the birthday candles on the cake were the only things illuminating Simmons in the darkness. The surprise and joy on her face were absolutely adorable, and Skye knew she had to do more to embarrass her friend, so she immediately started singing "Happy Birthday" as loudly as possible, grinning as everyone else joined in. Simmons, as Skye had expected, put her head in her hands, and Fitz wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, letting her bury her head in his chest. Skye covertly pulled out her phone to snap a picture, knowing that somewhere down the line, these two would love to remember this moment.

As the song ended, Simmons grinned up at Fitz, and he gestured to the cake. "Make a wish."

Jemma paused for a moment and then blew out the candles in two quick breaths. Everyone cheered, and Coulson started cutting the cake, passing around plates.

"Why did you do all this for me?" she said to Coulson as she took the plate he offered her.

Coulson smiled softly. "It's been a while since we had something to celebrate. This seemed like a good enough occasion as any."

Simmons shook her head as though she didn't know quite what to say. She and Fitz set down their mugs on an end table, grabbed forks, and sat down close together on the sofa. Skye took the seat next to them and the rest of their friends settled themselves in the chairs opposite and on the floor.

As they ate, Skye looked around trying to think of something fun to do. Her eyes settled on Fitzsimmons next to her. "Okay guys," she said clapping her hands together, "favorite Fitzsimmons moments. I'll go first." She thought for a second, but she came up with a memory quickly, deciding the leave the non-Fitzsimmons related details out of it. "I'd been on the Bus for two or three months, Ward was my S.O., and he was bugging Fitz about the ICERs or something-"

"Night-night pistol, it was back then," Fitz interjected, apparently unable to stop himself.

Hunter audibly snorted.

Skye allowed herself to smile at the very not-cool name for a weapon before she continued. "Yeah, that, and so Fitz did this absolutely horrible imitation of Ward and then I was complaining to Fitz about how I could never tell what Ward was thinking and I said that I wished that Ward and I could be like Fitz and Simmons since I felt like the two of them were almost psychically linked and Fitz started to deny it, but literally a second later Simmons comes in and does almost the _exact_ same imitation of Ward." Skye grinned at the memory, shaking her head. "Absolutely classic."

Jemma turned to Fitz. "I didn't know about that."

Fitz shrugged sheepishly. "I think mine was better anyway."

Jemma stared at him, her eyebrows raised as though asking if he really wanted to go there.

"Well, now we _definitely_ have to hear the impressions, guys," Bobbi said from the floor where she was leaning back onto Hunter. "I'm all for making fun of that asshole as much as possible."

Fitz gestured for Jemma to have the floor.

She only got as far as "I'm Agent Grant Ward" before she and the entire group burst out laughing.

"That was bloody awful!" Hunter said, tears in his eyes.

Jemma folded her arms defensively. "It wasn't _that_ bad. I remember Skye saying it was spot on!"

Skye shrugged. "Well, spot on if you're going for really really bad?"

Jemma glared at her.

Fitz nudged her slightly. "Sorry, Jemma. I love you, but that was terrible."

Skye's eyes widened and the entire group went silent for a moment as everyone registered what Fitz had said. Fitz had frozen, but he hadn't gone completely pale or run from the room or started rambling, which Skye took to mean that this wasn't a first-time, accidently-slipped-out "I love you:" this was something he had said to Jemma before. Apparently Fitz hadn't been exaggerating at all about their date being perfect.

Skye quickly exchanged surprised glances with Lincoln and then turned to Coulson who was just smiling slightly to himself.

"Well, I've got to bring up the great black box switch-up," Bobbi cut into the silence, drawing everyone's attention away from Fitz and Simmons.

Skye kept an eye on the pair beside her though, just to see how they were going to react to this. Fitz looked worried, but Jemma just tucked herself in between his arm and his torso and whispered something to him that Skye thought just might have been "I love you too." Now _that_ was definitely unexpected. Skye fought back a groan. This meant that she'd have to deal with these two being insufferable and adorable all the time now, especially if they'd already told each other I love you. Skye loved Fitz and Simmons like siblings, but that didn't mean that she wanted to see her siblings making out all over base. She shook her head. _One step at a time, Skye. Ma_ _ybe they won't even be that bad._

But as she watched them listen to Bobbi recount how brilliantly Fitz and Simmons had orchestrated the switch out of Fury's black box for the duplicate that Fitz had made without even conferring with each other (at which point Hunter took over, telling the rest of the group about being holed up with Coulson until Fitz called and asked if he could come hang out with them) there were little looks and even tiny kisses to Jemma's head and Fitz's cheek, and Skye knew that yes they would _definitely_ be that bad. She sighed to herself. Who was she to begrudge them this? No one deserved to be happy more than Fitzsimmons.

* * *

Fitz had been extremely nervous after he accidentally professed his love for Jemma in front of all their friends, but Jemma had barely batted an eyelash, smiling softly at him and cuddling closer to him, with a whisper of "I love you too" and a couple quick kisses to his jawline.

He found himself barely able to pay attention to Bobbi and Hunter's account of he and Jemma's duplicity, his attention focused on the beautiful woman curled up next to him, her head on his chest. When Bobbi mentioned how Jemma had lied to her and Mack, Fitz couldn't resist pressing a soft kiss into Jemma's hair, and when Hunter got to the bit where Fitz asked him how to shake a tail, Jemma leaned up to kiss his cheek.

Fitz and Simmons had spent hours together in situations similar to this: researching and studying together in one of their dorm rooms at the Academy, watching movies together on the sofa after work during their years at Sci-Ops, trying to figure out the solution to whatever problem Coulson had tasked them with on Fitz's bunk when they determined it was too late to stay in the lab on the Bus. Something about having Simmons beside him always made Fitz feel safe, comfortable, like he was home. But this was even more than that. Fitz didn't know how it had taken him so long to figure it out, but cuddling with Simmons, stealing kisses, playing with her hands in her lap, all of it just seemed right, like they should have been doing this the whole time.

After Hunter and Bobbi's tale, the stories kept coming, the majority from Skye who knew Fitz and Simmons best and longest and therefore had the most material to work with, but the rest of the team offered up some anecdotes about one of them or the other, if not both.

"I don't know if I ever got to tell anyone about Simmons and I's ride on that train through the Italian countryside," Coulson offered after Skye's account of Simmons's confrontation with Agent Sitwell at the Hub, a story which Skye had found intensely amusing, while Jemma had buried her head in Fitz's shoulder. "Things got pretty tense afterward, and I don't think I ever mentioned it."

"Sorry about that," Skye piped up from the other side of Jemma. Skye had, of course, found herself confronted with Ian Quinn not too long after said train ride.

"Don't be daft," Fitz shook his head at Skye. "You can't apologize for being shot."

Skye shrugged, not seeming to be too upset or too repentant.

"Anyway," Coulson continued. "Simmons decided she needed to over-prepare for this mission after the, um, _incident_ with Agent Sitwell, so she had this entire life story planned out for us. I was this absent American father who had all but abandoned her and her mother in England, and, of course, I find out all of this information as she yells it at me in the train car. An older gentleman actually came by and told me that this was 'my chance to do better.'" Coulson shook his head, smiling slightly. "But then came the grand finale. I can't remember the wording exactly though. Simmons?" He turned to the woman curled into Fitz's side who was grinning widely in spite of herself.

Simmons sat up a little straighter. "I believe, sir, that it was something along the lines of 'you never made time for mum, but you made time for your work…'"

Simmons paused, and Coulson gestured for her to finish her sentence.

"And your prostitutes."

The entire group erupted into laughed.

"Prostitutes!" Coulson repeated. "Plural!"

"I'm glad your lying got better, Jemma," Bobbi said, grinning. "You wouldn't have lasted a day at Hydra with that."

Jemma smiled at the partial compliment.

"Okay, that's two in a row about Simmons," Skye interrupted, still laughing to herself about the prostitutes. "Let's have a good one about Fitz."

"Now is that really necess-" Fitz started to say, but then he was interrupted.

"I have something." May's face was almost expressionless, but there was the slightest hint of a smile playing on her lips.

The group turned to her, none of them having pegged her for a storyteller.

"Do any of you remember the day Fitz wandered into the lounge on the Bus covered with whipped cream?"

The group went silent.

"NO!" Skye yelled after a moment, clapping her hands together as she threw her head back laughing.

Simmons turned to look up at him, a wide grin spreading across her face as she started laughing too.

Fitz's mouth fell open in realization. "It was _you_?" He stared at May as though he had never truly seen her before.

The corner of May's mouth turned up slightly.

"Oh my God," Fitz said indignantly, throwing his hands in the air. "I cannot _believe_ it was you! You never said a word! I thought for sure it was Coulson or Ward, since Simmons was such a rubbish liar and Skye would have bragged about it the moment it happened, but I never suspected _you_. This just, this isn't fair!"

Skye was practically falling out of her seat she was laughing so hard, and Simmons wasn't much better. The rest of the team that hadn't been around for the incident clearly had clearly gotten the gist of the situation and were laughing at Fitz's anger and Skye's uproarious laughter. Even Coulson was beaming.

"Some friends you are!" Fitz said angrily, glaring around the room, giving particular attention to Skye, who was wiping tears from her eyes and May who seemed absolutely unaffected beside Dr. Garner who was trying and failing to keep a straight face.

"And you!" He looked down at Jemma, her head buried in his shirt to stifle some of her laughter. "You're _definitely_ supposed to be on my side, being my girlfriend and all."

Fitz stopped. He hadn't actually referred to Jemma as his girlfriend yet, but they'd been on a date and he had told her that he loved her _and_ she'd said it back so that made her his girlfriend… right?

Fitz was aware that the rest of the room had grown quieter at his remark (except Skye who was still trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard) but his eyes stayed focused on Jemma.

She had stopped laughing, but her smile hadn't disappeared. "Well," she said after a moment, her voice teasing as she smiled sideways at him, "maybe you should try not to be such an easy target, being my _boyfriend_ and all."

Fitz couldn't resist leaning down to kiss her, ignoring the awws and catcalls from the rest of the group.

Fitz resurfaced, grinning widely at Jemma.

"Okay," he said, turning back to his friends, pretending he wasn't blushing as much as he was. "Let's try a story that doesn't turn me into a laughing stock."

"Oh, I've got one!" Skye exclaimed, earning her Fitz's gratitude.

"You know, I think I like that," Jemma whispered in Fitz's ear as Skye talked animatedly in the background. "Being your girlfriend."

"Oh yeah?" Fitz raised his eyebrows.

Jemma grinned and kissed him lightly. "Yeah."

* * *

By midnight, the entire room was clear besides their little circle: Sky on the sofa with Fitz and Simmons, and Lincoln at her feet, Mack in one chair and Andrew in another, though May was practically sitting in it with him, Bobbi and Hunter on the ground between the chairs, and Coulson leaning against the wall off to the side.

Between stories, Jemma finally sighed. "Okay, whose idea was all this, really?" she asked gesturing at the remnants of the cake and the decorations, looking around at her friends.

It was Mack who spoke up. "That'd be Fitz and Skye."

"Not just us," Fitz hurriedly amended his friend's statement. "Everyone threw in something or other."

"But it started with us," Skye admitted, knowing that Fitz's modesty would prevent him from taking responsibility, so it was up to her. "It happened one night after you'd been gone for almost two months," she began, nodding at Simmons. "I had managed to get Fitz out of the Kree room for longer than usual to look at something in the lab that Lincoln and I found on an Inhuman mission, and instead of heading back there, I convinced him to stop by the lounge for a bit. I knew he was gonna make an excuse to go pretty quick, and I was just looking for something to keep him talking, so I just asked him what he wanted to do first thing when we found you."

"And he said throw a party?" Jemma asked skeptically.

"Actually, I think what he said was that he wanted to hold onto you and never let you go," Skye said casually.

Fitz sunk back in his seat, his face reddening as he hid it in Simmons's shoulder.

Skye grinned, pleased with herself for embarrassing Fitz.

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Bobbi said, leaning her head back on Hunter's chest.

Skye nodded her agreement. "It really was. But it was also unhelpful as an actual conversation topic, so I asked what else, and then he said he'd like to have a little welcome back party with everyone since it had been so long since we'd done much of any celebrating. And _that,_ I could work with. We started planning the banner and the cake, and then Mack came by and suggested we decorate the lounge with science equipment and Doctor Who stuff, and Fitz said we had to use the tables from your old lab. Then May walked in and suggested we have tea and muffins instead of regular party food, and Coulson came by and said that he'd be sure to invite Bobbi and Hunter, and by the end of the night we had a whole plan called Operation Welcome Home that was set up to go as soon as we found you."

"They actually kept adding to it, this whole group," Coulson volunteered from the side of the room. "A week hasn't gone by since that night that I haven't gotten a suggestion for Operation Welcome Home. Some of them, like how the cake was decorated, were accepted; others, mostly from Skye, were not."

"I just said that we should blow up the stupid stone as the grand finale," Skye argued. "No one should have any problem with that."

"It's a safety hazard," Coulson countered, his argument well practiced from repetition. "As is burning an effigy of the stone," he blocked her next move before she could even make it. "Actually I think effigy implies person, so that doesn't even make sense."

"I just wanted to take my anger out," Skye grumbled.

Coulson smiled slightly. "I was thinking of having a team camp out sometime soon with tents and a campfire, and if you can find flammable replicas…"

"YES!" Skye cheered as everyone laughed, Simmons and Fitz shaking their heads at her antics.

From the floor, Bobbi turned to Hunter. "So, I'm game if you are."

Hunter nodded back at her. "Let's do it." The pair turned to Coulson and May.

"So we've been thinking about coming back, not just consulting, but full time," Bobbi said seriously. "I'm definitely not clear to go back in the field, but Hunter is, and we both just kind of miss it, and all of this, really." She gestured at their little gathering. "Could S.H.I.E.L.D. use our help?"

Coulson stepped forward and held out his hand. "Welcome back Agent Morse, Agent Hunter. I'll expect you back at base in three days."

Mack whacked Hunter in the shoulder. "What the hell was that, man! I've spent half of tonight dropping subtle hints to get you to come back, and you were already going to?"

Hunter smirked at him. "Sorry about that, mate."

"And Mack, your hints really aren't that subtle," Bobbi added.

Hunter shook his head. "Nah."

Mack rolled his eyes. "Some friends you are."

* * *

"I think it's about time to head out," Andrew whispered to May where she sat on the arm of his chair.

May nodded in reply and then the pair stood up.

"This has been such a nice time," Andrew said genuinely to the group, "and it's so great to have you back, Simmons."

Simmons smiled up at him. "Thank you Dr. Garner. I'll expect we'll be seeing each other sometime soon, knowing protocol."

Andrew grinned at her. "I'd expect you're right." He waved to the entire group. "Goodnight."

May gestured to Coulson to move away from the rest of the group so they could speak semi-privately. "Do you want me to get in touch with Agent Weaver about Bobbi?" she asked, referring to Bobbi's place on the board.

Coulson shook his head. "I saw them talking earlier, so I assume they already discussed it. And I'll have to speak with her after Simmons's debriefing tomorrow, so don't worry about it."

May nodded and started to move away, but Coulson reached out and grabbed her arm.

May looked up at him, questioningly.

"Good work today." He tilted his head toward Simmons where she was sitting, smiling, on the sofa, curled up sleepily around Fitz.

May let herself give Coulson a small smile. "Just glad to have her back."

Coulson nodded at her, and then May moved to follow Andrew out the door, but Fitz, Simmons, and Skye all stood up simultaneously to stop her, eliciting laughter from the whole group.

Simmons stepped forward first. "Thanks for rescuing me, May," she said softly. "I'm glad it was you that found me." Before May could really register what was going on, Simmons had pulled her into a hug. May found herself reaching up to rub Simmons's back gently, the motherly gesture coming from nowhere. When Simmons stepped back a moment later, she was smiling softly.

Next was Fitz. "I'm really glad it was you leading the mission today. There's no one else I would have rather had there taking care of Jemma instead of me." He looked down at his feet awkwardly, clearly not totally comfortable talking to May about this. "So, um, thanks," he finished finally, looking up at her for a moment.

May nodded her understanding, offering the young engineer a small smile, which he returned.

Then he moved toward her, and May thought for half a second that he was going for a hug, which was very unlike Fitz, but instead he leaned in to speak quietly into her ear.

"Nice job with the frosting."

May's eyes widened. That was supposed to be a secret. She didn't want the whole base knowing that intense, battle-hardened S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Melinda May was also an extremely proficient cake decorator. It just wasn't good for her image.

"Where did you hear that?" May said sharply once Fitz had pulled back, a wide grin across his face.

He raised his eyebrows as if to say "really?"

May already knew the answer. She looked over Fitz's shoulder at Skye, whose wide smile fell from her face almost instantly.

As Fitz moved away, clearly pleased with himself, Skye stepped forward.

"Sorry about that."

May just shook her head, trying to look as much the part of an intimidating S.O. as possible. Normally this was an easy task, but under the circumstances, and in present company, May's eyes softened, letting Skye know she wasn't really mad.

Skye visibly relaxed in front of her, and then moved forward to pull May in for a hug.

"Love you," Skye said quietly into her shoulder.

May made no reply, but she held Skye more tightly for a second. Skye knew that she loved her back. May loved all three of their kids: practical and hardworking Simmons, steadfast and driven Fitz, kind and exuberant Skye. They were her family and always would be. When May let go, she shot Skye a flash of a smile.

With a wave, but no spoken goodbye, May followed Andrew out of the room.

"You okay, Melinda?" Andrew asked from the hallway where he had been waiting for her.

May nodded and took his outstretched hand. "Yeah, Andrew. I'm okay."

* * *

Instead of going back to the sofa, Skye moved over to stand beside Coulson. It seemed like the party was finally winding down.

Hunter and Bobbi got up, stretching from sitting on the floor. "We can spend the night here right?" Hunter asked Coulson, yawning. "You said we could."

"Bobbi's old room's free," Coulson said, clearly tired himself.

"Well then, night all," Hunter said, pausing to wait for Bobbi who had stopped to hug Fitz and Simmons again before they left.

"I think sleep sounds pretty good to me too," Mack agreed, high fiving Fitz and then nodding goodnight to Simmons, Skye, and Coulson.

Fitzsimmons seemed like they wanted to talk to Coulson about something, so Skye figured she should leave them to it.

She hugged Coulson first, grinning into his shoulder as she felt his arms tighten around her.

"I'm really proud of you," he said softly.

Skye held him tighter for a moment and then moved back. "Thanks."

Then she turned to Fitz and flung her arms around him.

"Skye, you're suffocating me," Fitz complained after a moment, though she could tell that he didn't really mind.

"Sorry," Skye replied unapologetically, releasing him and turning to hug Simmons just as tightly.

Then she looked at them both together, a hand on each of their nearest shoulders. "Now, kids, remember that I'm in the bunk next to Simmons, so if you're gonna do anything, don't be too loud, and-"

"Skye!" The both yelled together.

Skye laughed hysterically, and pulled them in together for another hug. "You guys are the best, and it is gonna be _so_ fun messing with you." She beamed at them and practically skipped out the door. "Love you!"

"Love you too," she heard Fitz grumble back as Simmons just sighed exasperatedly.

Skye couldn't have been happier if she tried.

* * *

After Skye and her inappropriate comments left the common area, Fitz turned to Coulson, Simmons still shaking her head at his side.

"Thank you so much for everything tonight, sir," Simmons said for both of them. "The flowers, the car, dinner, this party. It's all too much."

Coulson smiled. "You're welcome." Then he narrowed his eyes. "Wait, did you say dinner? I didn't buy you dinner."

Fitz and Simmons looked at each other, confused.

"You didn't?" Fitz questioned, trying to figure out what was going on. "Someone did…"

"Who else knew that I was back and what restaurant we went to?" Simmons asked, sounding more like her old scientist self than she had all day.

Coulson shrugged. "A lot of people knew: the entire base, Agent Weaver, the rest of the board. And as for the restaurant, there's a tracker in the vehicle you took that any number of people could have accessed. Your guess is as good as mine."

Fitz thought for a moment then shook his head. "I've got no idea."

"Me either," Simmons agreed, frowning.

"Well, I'll let you know if I find out anything," Coulson said, sounding almost uninterested. "And now I'm going to head off to bed. Night Fitz, Night Simmons." Right before he left he turned back. "And Simmons?"

"Sir?"

"I'm glad you're home."

* * *

In the hallway, Coulson pulled out his phone and selected a contact.

"Coulson?"

"Hi Maria. Did Fury, by any chance, ask you to do anything for him today?"

"I might have purchased dinner for a young couple at an Italian restaurant not far from your base." Agent Hill's tone was casual and matter-of-fact.

"Funny. I didn't know that Fury was particularly interested in the romantic affairs of agents at an agency he no longer is in charge of," Coulson countered, keeping his tone level with Agent Hill's.

"He said they deserved it after everything they've been through. Dropped to the bottom of the ocean in a box. Trapped inside an alien rock. Fury said they'd seen enough tragedy to last a lifetime, so it was good for them to have a little happiness."

"Thank him for me, will you, the next time you talk to him."

"I will. And Coulson?" For the first time in their conversation, Maria dropped her usual dispassionate "Agent Hill" tone, instead sounding genuinely pleased. "They did have a nice time, didn't they?"

"They did," Coulson affirmed. "They most certainly did."


	6. My World is You

_A/N: And we're finally at the end of the line! I honestly cannot thank you guys enough for your support of this story. All the favorites and amazing reviews have been wonderful and encouraging, and they seriously mean the world to me. I've absolutely loved writing this fic, and I'm so glad you guys have enjoyed it. Assuming my schoolwork doesn't kill me, I'll start work on another Fitzsimmons story sometime in the near future, so keep an eye out for that._

 _Thank you so much for reading! Enjoy!_

 _The chapter title comes from "Bloom" by The Paper Kites._

* * *

Fitz looked around the now empty room with a smile on his face. Some of the other agents had done some tidying up, but stacks of extra plates and napkins were still sitting around on the tables and a teakettle still sat on the stove.

"Fancy a cuppa before bed?" Fitz asked Jemma, gesturing to the stovetop.

Jemma nodded, smiling sleepily.

Fitz stepped away to make the tea as Jemma returned to their previous seat on the sofa.

A couple minutes later, Fitz presented her with a mug filled with tea and dash of milk, just the way he knew she liked it.

She smiled at him in thanks as she folded her hands around the cup, sighing contentedly.

Fitz added sugar to his cup and took a seat beside her, Jemma immediately curling herself into his side again. Fitz pressed a kiss to the top of Jemma's head and thought to himself that he really wouldn't mind doing this for the rest of his life.

"You know," Jemma said after a moment, "this party was the second best present I've ever gotten." She smiled up at him.

Fitz narrowed his eyes. "And what was the best?"

Jemma smiled wider. "You." She leaned in and kissed him lightly before tucking herself back beneath his arm.

Fitz was glad that no one was around to see how much he was blushing. He still couldn't believe that Jemma felt the same way about him that he felt about her. Today alone made the past four months worth it. Fitz could have survived a whole year without Jemma if a day like today came at the end of it. Everything was finally okay.

The pair sat in comfortable silence as they sipped their tea. Finally, Fitz set his empty mug back on the table as Jemma did the same. He looped his arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. "So did you have a good first day back?"

Jemma nodded and looked up to kiss him again, but a yawn stopped her.

Fitz laughed. "Trapped in a stasis chamber for four months, and you're _still_ tired." He pulled away from her and grabbed her hand to pull her off the sofa.

"Hey! It's been a long day," Jemma tried to argue as she stood up, but she was again interrupted by a yawn.

Fitz grinned. "I know, Jemma." He ushered her toward the hallway that led to the bunks, his hand wrapped around hers. "Time for bed, then."

The pair walked slowly back to Jemma's bunk.

"Well, I guess this is where I say goodnight," Jemma said wistfully as they stopped in front of her door, her hand still locked in Fitz's, evidently as reluctant to let go as Fitz was.

Fitz suddenly remembered something. "Wait one minute, Jemma, I'll be right back." He turned and raced down the hallway toward his own bunk.

* * *

Jemma smiled at Fitz's retreating back and stepped into her room, keeping her door open for Fitz's return.

Jemma had been back in her room briefly to get dressed before her date with Fitz earlier, but she hadn't looked to see if anything had changed. As she glanced around now, everything seemed to be in place, the only addition being the vase sitting on her dresser that was filled with the flowers Fitz had given her. Jemma had texted Skye when they were driving to the restaurant to ask if she could find something to put them in since she hadn't wanted the beautiful blooms to wilt while they were away. Skye had eagerly dealt with the situation for her, and Jemma was glad to see the pink and blue flowers looking just as bright as they had when Fitz had given them to her hours before. In fact, the entire room was perfectly neat and clean.

Simmons narrowed her eyes and walked over to her very-tall bookshelf to test her hypothesis by swiping her fingers along the top. She pulled down her hand and checked her fingers. Just as she suspected: dusty. This entire room should be dusty – she'd been gone four months, after all – but everything looked immaculate; all her pictures, even the framed one of her and Fitz beside her bed, were spotless. Someone had dusted. It could have been Skye when she came in with the vase earlier, but Jemma didn't remember there being any dust anywhere when she had been in here getting changed, and besides, Skye rarely cleaned up her own room, let alone anyone else's.

But before she could consider the matter more seriously, Jemma realized that something _was_ actually different in her room. One of her most prized possessions wasn't in its usual spot at the foot of her bed.

"Fitz…" He would know where it went.

"Yeah Jemma?"

Jemma whirled around. She hadn't realized he was back.

Fitz stood in the doorway, a sheepish smile on his face. "Here." He held out the missing article: her favorite blanket.

Jemma grinned, relieved. "I was just wondering where this was, thank you." She took it from Fitz and buried her face in it. Instead of the flowery laundry detergent smell that she had expected, there was something different. Tea and sugar and something that was almost like grease or metal. Jemma smiled to herself. The blanket smelled like Fitz.

She looked up at him. "You've been using this."

Fitz avoided her gaze. "I missed you, and it reminded me of you, so…"

Jemma inhaled deeply. "It smells like you now."

That got Fitz's attention. He looked up at her, his eyebrows raised. "Does not. It still smells like you. That's… that's why I took it."

Jemma moved closer to him. "No, it smells like tea and sugar and metal or something. That's what you smell like."

Fitz inhaled but then shook his head. "You can't smell it as well anymore, but it still smells like you. Tea and cinnamon and flowers and science."

Jemma raised her eyebrows. "Science?"

Fitz rubbed the back of his neck. "It smells like the lab. Antiseptic or something. I don't know. It's you."

Suddenly the half a foot between them was too much, and Jemma dropped the blanket and wrapped her arms around Fitz's neck, pressing her lips to his.

The kiss was slow and sleepy, but it was Fitz, and that was everything. He tasted like tea and too much sugar, and Jemma had never thought she could be this happy. Those months floating through space missing Fitz and wanting to come home felt a million years away as Fitz's hands tightened around her waist.

It had been months since she had realized that she did feel something for Fitz, but that potential, that "maybe there is" was nothing compared to how she felt about Fitz now. He had done so much to help her. He had saved her life more than once, and he had laid everything on the line when he told her how he felt in the med pod. But it was the little things that Jemma loved about him the most. How he hadn't pressed her for information or explanation when she'd returned to base. How he kept her close to make sure she didn't disappear again. How excited he had been when she had told him that she loved him too. How flustered he got when their friends had teased them at the party. How he always knew exactly how she wanted her tea.

Jemma had found that being with Fitz was as natural as breathing. She knew that if they had gone on their date four months before, both of them would have been awkward bundles of nerves, but their time apart had made them both realize how precious their time together was. It was pointless for them to worry about their relationship or what the rest of the base thought about them or how they should act around each other. They were happy together and perfectly in love, and Jemma wouldn't have had it any other way.

"I love you, Fitz," Jemma whispered, her mouth ghosting across his.

Fitz replied with another kiss. "I love you too."

Jemma let herself move back slightly, her forehead leaning against Fitz's as they smiled unashamedly at each other.

Jemma leaned down to pick up the blanket from the floor. "When did you take this?" she asked curiously.

Fitz's smile dimmed slightly. "You'd been gone about three days. I couldn't sleep without having some part of you near me. Sometimes it almost felt like you were home."

Jemma wrapped her arms around Fitz, hugging him tightly. It was awful thinking about what Fitz must have gone through when she disappeared. She knew that if it were Fitz who had been eaten by a giant alien rock, she would have barely been able to function. She pressed a kiss to his hair. "Well I'm back now if that counts for anything."

Fitz smiled down at her. "That counts for everything."

Jemma looked up at him hesitantly. "Fitz, would you maybe stay with me tonight? I just, I think I'd sleep better if you were here."

The smile she got from Fitz in return was worth the months she had been gone. "Of course, Jemma. I think I'd sleep better too. Just let me go get changed." He turned to the hallway. "I'll be right back."

Jemma smiled, relieved. "Perfect."

Once he had gone and shut the door behind him, Jemma quickly slipped into a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt that she had definitely stolen from Fitz back at Sci-Ops and then stepped into the bathroom for a few minutes.

She had expected Fitz to be waiting at her door when she returned, but when she stepped out to check, the hallway was empty. Frowning, Jemma started to close the door, but the sound of voices down the hall stopped her.

"You better take good care of her, Fitz." It was Skye. "I know we've been through a lot together, but I've known Simmons just as long as I've known you, so don't think I'm gonna side with you if something happens."

Jemma could almost hear Fitz's eyeroll. "Nothing's gonna happen, Skye. It's Jemma. I'm not losing her again. I couldn't do that."

There was a pause and the sound of movement.

"What did I say about crushing me?" Fitz complained, and Jemma realized that Skye must have given him a hug.

Skye ignored his comment. "You really love her, don't you, Fitz?" Skye's voice was softer now.

"Well, yeah," Fitz said, just barely loud enough for Jemma to hear. "I've loved her for a pretty long time."

"She really loves you too," Skye added. "As soon as we mentioned your name when we found her, she got all distracted like you were all she could think about. And you should have seen her face when I started teasing her about you guys' date." Skye laughed. "Bright red."

"When did you find out about our date?" Fitz asked suspiciously.

"Simmons told me on the plane," Skye said breezily, and Jemma could easily imagine the self-satisfied grin on her friend's face.

"So _that's_ how Coulson found out." Fitz sounded exasperated but resigned to the fact that their teammates were interfering gossips who couldn't stay out of other people's business. "But I guess I can't be annoyed. Tonight was… it was the best night of my life, Skye." Fitz sighed. "I feel like I'm living in a dream. Like all of this is too good to be true. I'm half convinced I'm gonna wake up tomorrow and find that I've been asleep at my desk in the stone room this whole time."

Skye laughed. "Don't worry, Fitz. This is definitely real. And so is Simmons, who you should definitely go sleep with rather than talk to me."

"We're not-"

"I know, I know," Skye interrupted Fitz's indignant reply. "It was just a joke." She laughed again. "This really was a great day wasn't it?"

"Yeah it was." Jemma could hear the smile in Fitz's voice. "Goodnight, Skye."

"Night Fitz."

Jemma shut the door quietly so Fitz wouldn't know that she had been listening to his conversation, but she couldn't help smiling at Fitz's words. How had she ever gotten this lucky?

There was a hesitant knock, and Jemma opened the door, smiling at Fitz's plaid pajama pants and t-shirt that was very similar to the one she was wearing.

His eyes narrowed as he examined her outfit. "Okay, that's definitely my shirt," he said after a moment.

"So?" Jemma replied. "I steal your shirt, you steal my blanket. We're even."

"That's definitely not the same thing," Fitz argued back. "You weren't here!"

"Is too," Jemma said, grinning as she threw her covers back and hopped into bed. "But I'm too tired to argue, Fitz. Can you get the light?"

Fitz flicked the switch and then slid in beside her.

Jemma settled quickly under his arm with her head on his chest and sighed contentedly.

"Fitz," she said after a moment, thinking about what he had just said to Skye.

"Yes, Jemma?"

"When did you realize that you, you know, loved me?"

Fitz moved so they were face-to-face in the near-darkness. His eyebrows were raised. "Why?" he asked, unsure.

Jemma played with the hem of his shirt, avoiding Fitz's eyes. "I heard you tell Skye in the hallway that you'd loved me for a long time, and I just wondered how long."

Fitz laughed. "Listening in on my conversations now, Simmons. What's next?"

Jemma smiled up at him teasingly. "If you didn't want me to hear it then you should have been quieter."

"Oh, so it's my fault?"

"Of course it's your fault," Jemma leaned up to kiss his cheek. "But really, Fitz. When?"

Fitz shook his head, smiling softly, but then he looked thoughtful. "I'm not completely sure." He shrugged. "The first time I definitely felt something was the day you jumped out of that plane with the alien virus. I thought I was going to lose you, and it terrified me." Jemma scooted closer to Fitz so she could wrap her arms around him.

She remembered that horrible day vividly. The situation was hopeless, but Fitz had been there by her side the entire time. That was the first time he'd saved her life. Without him, there was no way she would have figured out the antiserum. She hadn't been exaggerating the previous year when she told Bobbi that she couldn't imagine her life without Fitz; Jemma wouldn't even have _had_ a life to live without Fitz.

Jemma moved back after a moment, and Fitz continued. "And then when Trip came along and you two started spending lots of time together, I was just a little bit, uh… jealous." He stared down at the blanket, avoiding her gaze.

Jemma laughed. "Oh Fitz." She shook her head. "So _that's_ why you were always so short with him."

Fitz looked down sadly. "I wish I could apologize. I really wasn't very nice."

Neither of them spoke for a moment, their thoughts both with their teammate whose absence had been keenly felt at their earlier gathering in the lounge. Everyone always missed Trip when the whole gang got together. Something always felt a little off without him there.

Fitz finally shook his head, returning to the previous topic. "But seeing you with Trip was what made me realize for sure that this wasn't just me caring about my best friend, this was… more than that."

"More than that," Jemma repeated, an echo from the med pod at the bottom of the ocean. No longer would those words haunt her as one of the last things Fitz had said to her before everything had changed. Now Jemma heard them and smiled.

Fitz moved back to his original position, and Jemma cuddled up next to him again.

"Jemma?" Fitz spoke this time.

"Yeah?"

"What did you wish for earlier, when you blew out the candles?"

Jemma smiled to herself in the darkness. "I thought if I told anyone it wouldn't come true."

Fitz scoffed and Jemma stifled a laugh in his chest.

After a moment, Jemma finally spoke. "Us."

"What?"

"That's what I wished for," Jemma explained. "For us to be happy and together, just like we should be."

She could almost feel Fitz's smile behind her as he pressed a kiss into her hair.

Eventually, Fitz's breathing began to slow beneath her.

"Fitz?"

This time it took Fitz a second to answer. "Yeah, Jemma?" He had clearly been about to fall asleep when Jemma had spoken.

"Did you dust my bedroom?"

Fitz said nothing for a moment. "I, well, yeah. It needed dusting."

Jemma smiled widely and turned to look up at him. "I love you, Fitz. So much."

Fitz kissed her forehead, his eyes already shutting. "Love you too, Jemma. Always. Now sleep."

This time Jemma let Fitz fall asleep. She felt Fitz's arm tighten around her unconsciously, and she smiled, feeling like everything made sense for the first time in a long time.

It was good to be home.


End file.
